


A Bite of Klaine

by grlnxtdr29



Series: Bite Trilogy [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-16 08:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 50,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17545871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grlnxtdr29/pseuds/grlnxtdr29
Summary: Lifemate. The one person who was perfect for you, who complimented you in every way. The one person you could be yourself and relax with. Kurt thought he would have to wait a very long time to meet his, until he went to Dalton to spy. Glee/Argeneau Crossover





	1. A Chance Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> One of my favorite authors is Lynsay Sands, who writes the Argeneau/Rogue Hunters series, a rather unique series filled with lots of humor. I always thought Kurt's porcelain skin would fit right in with the Argeneaus.
> 
> If you aren't familiar with the Argeneau series, don't worry, I'll explain the premise through out the story, so you don't have to go read the books if you don't want to, but I promise you won't be disappointed if you do read the books.
> 
> This is my first attempt at a crossover, so be nice to me!
> 
> Reviews are like chocolate, I crave it more than anything.

Oh, crap! This could not be happening! He was only sixteen! What was he going to tell his Dad? He tried to tell himself to calm down, that maybe he was over reacting, maybe it was just a misunderstanding. He'd made a mistake. He should call his Dad and ask him what he should do, but he didn't want to bother the elder Hummel with this.

Burt had just found Carole, hadn't even told her about them yet. He didn't want to put even more pressure on him. But he needed to speak to someone. And suddenly he knew exactly who he could talk with. He just wondered if she actually remembered him. He'd heard stories about her from his mother, of course, but he hadn't actually met her until just a few months ago, and she'd been a bit distracted then, having just gotten remarried herself, and planning the wedding of her son, Christian, and looking after the step daughter of her niece, Jeanne Louise, while the younger woman was on her honeymoon.

He pulled out his cell phone, thankful that he'd spent the extra money for the international calling plan. He found the Toronto listing in his contacts, and hit send. The call was picked up on the third ring, the oddly accented voice soothing him before he even spoke a word.

"Hello?"

"Aunt Marguerite? I'm not sure you remember me, we met a few months ago, but I-"

"Kurt? Darling, it's so wonderful to hear from you! How is your father, Dear?" He could feel the woman's genuine concern for his father, and her natural motherly warmth even through the phone, and he smiled.

"Dad is fine. He's planning on telling Carole this week sometime."

"That's great! I know she'll handle the news well. I'm so happy he found her. I loved your mother very much, and I know she would be happy for him as well, and for you."

"Thank you, Aunt Marguerite. I'm happy for him, too. But he's already stressed out about telling her, and I don't want to bother him with anything right now, which is why I am calling you. I think I might have a problem."

"Oh? What is it, sweetheart?"

He cleared his throat, his thoughts all jumbled up as he tried to figure out how to put this. "I-I met a boy..."

…

Some days he wondered why he even bothered. He tried his best to pretend that he was just an average, everyday teenager, despite the fact that he was anything but ordinary. He knew there were parts of himself he could never share with anyone at William McKinley High School, not even his closest friends. Oh, they knew the obvious things of course, his love of fashion, Gaga, Vogue, and Broadway. They knew he had an amazing singing voice and he could dance like nobody's business. And they all knew he was gay.

That was part of the problem. They ALL knew he was gay, and many of the students here didn't appreciate that. Of course, if they knew everything about him, they'd probably hate him even more, but he'd been able to keep some things a secret.

He wished he could at least tell Mercedes, his best friend. She'd been very understanding when he'd told her he was gay a year ago, and he was pretty sure she'd be just as understanding about his...other...condition.

Of course there was no way he could tell the rest of the Glee kids. Finn would probably eventually learn about it from his mom, Carole, in like, ten years or so, when he learned not to blab his mouth off to everyone else. As for the rest of them, well, Tina would love to learn that her whole goth style was validated, Brittany wouldn't even notice, Santana would probably find some way to make it sound lewd and disgusting, same with Puck. And he just didn't trust the others well enough to keep their traps shut.

So he'd keep pretending to be just your ordinary gay kid in small town Ohio trying to survive high school. He'd pretend and pretend and pretend, and convince himself it was excellent practice for when he became a famous Broadway performer in New York.

He pretended so well that when the other Glee boys got tired of listening to his suggestions and told him to go do something useful, like spying on the competition for Sectionals, he didn't even try and change their minds. He knew he could do it, but why bother?

And that was how he found himself strolling the halls of the prestigious Dalton Academy, wandering around, looking for the choir room. He wasn't worried about getting caught. Because Kurt Elizabeth Argeneau Hummel was not your average, everyday teenager.

As he had entered the building, the receptionist had spotted him and had kindly asked him if she could help him. He'd merely smiled at her, and willed her to forget she'd ever seen him. She had looked blank for a moment, and then looked back down at the letter she had been typing up, completely ignoring the auburn haired boy.

Smiling to himself, he let out a soft, self content sigh, feeling more like himself than he'd felt in a long time. He'd wandered through the beautiful building, admiring the architecture and decor. If anyone spotted him, they quickly forgot about the pale young man.

He was relishing the freedom to finally be completely himself, at least for a short while, and hadn't really been paying attention to where he was going. He had no idea where the choir room was. As classes let out and the stairway he was on was suddenly filled with students, he decided he would just take the information from one of the boys passing him on the stairs.

The boys were moving so fast, though, it was hard to focus on one long enough to search their minds for the information he needed. He was going to have to stop one of them for a moment, then make the boy forget he was even there. He spotted a head of overly gelled hair, and decided the boy would do as well as any other.

"Excuse me?"

The boy stopped and turned to face him, and the first thing Kurt thought was warm honey as he looked into the boy's hazel eyes. The boy smiled softly at him, waiting for him to speak.

"Um, hi. Can I ask you a question? I'm new here." He asked, just to distract the boy while he tried to find the information he needed in the boy's mind, but was distracted himself when the other boy spoke.

"I'm Blaine." The boy held his hand out for him to shake.

"Kurt," He replied, startled at the little frisson of awareness that traveled up his arm and down his spine. He forgot to try and read the other boy's mind for the moment.

"So, what's going on here?"

The shorter boy's face lit up as he spoke. "The Warblers. Every now and then they put on an impromptu performance in the commons. Tends to shut the school down for a while."

Kurt was surprised by this. "Wait, Glee club is cool here?"

Blaine all but laughed at this. "They're like Rock stars! Come on, I know a shortcut!"

He'd grabbed Kurt's hand before the fair skinned boy could even think about what was happening. They ran down the hallway, still holding hands, until they'd reached a crowded doorway and forced their way through.

Kurt looked around himself and cringed. There was no way he could control this many minds at once and make them forget they had seen him. Busted. "Oh, I stick out like a sore thumb."

He hadn't meant to speak out loud, but the dark haired boy just smiled. "Well next time don't forget your jacket, New Kid. Now if you'll excuse me?"

Kurt thought about making the boy forget about him and ducking out, but that thought went out the window as the smiling boy joined a group in the center of the room and began singing Teenage Dream. Kurt couldn't move if his life was depending on it. He was mesmerized by the dark haired boy's voice. He felt a small measure of guilt when he realized he was attracted to this boy. He'd promised himself that he wouldn't experiment with sex like most of his kind did at this age, but would wait until he found that special one, that perfect person who was destined only for him. His lifemate.

But Blaine was very attractive, and friendly, and Kurt found himself wishing the boy was his lifemate, but that wasn't possible. He was only sixteen. Usually it took ages to find one. He sighed softly to himself even as he clapped enthusiastically when the performance ended.

He found himself sitting in the small coffee shop on Dalton's first floor (what kind of school actually had a Starbucks inside it?) looking across a table at Blaine and the two other boys that had been introduced to him as David and Wes. "It's awfully nice of you to invite me for coffee before you beat me up for spying."

They assured him that they weren't going to beat him up, and he sighed in relief. Not that he'd really been worried, he could just take control of them, wipe their memories, and leave. "Can I ask you guys a question? Are you guys all gay?"

They laughed at that. "No," Blaine answered. "Well, I mean I am, but these two have girlfriends."

"This isn't a gay school," The dark skinned boy, David, replied. "We just have a zero tolerance no harassment policy."

Wes, the handsome Asian boy added, "Everyone gets treated the same, no matter what they are."

Kurt took a deep breath, feeling the tears in his eyes. He knew these three boys would think that he was upset because he was being bullied at his own school, and that definitely made things worse, but that was only a small part of it.

At McKinley, he not only had to put up with physical abuse, the dumpster tosses, the locker shoves (he still had a bit of a bruise from hitting the lock on his locker that morning just before he left for Westerville,) and the slushie facials, and the verbal abuse, the constant homophobic slurs thrown at him, but he also had to deal with the mental abuse, constantly having to shield his mind from the cruel thoughts of some of his class mates. He shielded his mind so hard that some days he went home with pounding headaches.

Kurt hadn't realized that Blaine had asked the other two boys to leave until they were out of the room. The two of them continued to talk, and Kurt told him about the bullies. When it was time for him to go, the hazel eyed boy had given him his phone number, and told him to call any time he needed someone to talk with.

Kurt once again felt that little bit of attraction for the other boy, and despite his resolve not to pursue a relationship with anyone until he found his lifemate, he wondered if the other boy found him attractive too. It would be easy to find out, though Kurt hated reading anyone's thoughts. It was rude, after all.

But he couldn't help himself when he reached out with his mind to try and read the shorter boy to see if there was any interest on his part. And found he couldn't read the boy at all. He stood there in stunned silence as he came up against a mental blank wall. This could mean only one thing.

Blaine was his lifemate.

…

"Calm down, Kurt, darling," Aunt Marguerite told him once he'd finished speaking. "Where are you now?"

"I'm in a rest area about halfway between Westerville and Lima. I had to stop, I was starting to freak out a little." And because he'd needed a drink. The nanos in his body were using up blood to repair the bruise from earlier, as well as to counteract the effects of the sun, and the germs that he had been exposed to earlier when Jacob Ben Israel had sneezed on him in the hallway and half a dozen other little things that affected the human body. He'd had to slip into the backseat and replenish himself from the tiny portable refrigerator hidden under the back seat of the Navigator.

"Very well, sweetheart, I am going to have someone head down to Lima to help you out, well, a couple of someones. They'll be there in a couple of days."

"Wait, Aunt Marguerite, who? Why? I mean, do you really think he could be my lifemate? I'm too young! Aren't you supposed to wait centuries for your lifemate to appear?"

He could almost hear the smile in her voice as she answered him. "Usually, yes. But sometimes, the very lucky ones, the very special ones, are blessed with finding them early. Now I have to make a few phone calls and get things set up for you. Say hello to your dad for me, won't you?"

And she hung up. Kurt just sat there with a bemused smile on his face for a moment, before he realized she hadn't told him who she was sending down to help him work out his problem.


	2. The Woes of the Hummel Men

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you are new to the Argeneau/Rogue Hunters series, you'll learn much more about the backstory in this chapter. We'll also get a bit of Blaine's point of view, and I'll be introducing a few more of the Argeneau characters as well. I hope you all like Stephanie!

Blaine sat on his bed, trying to study for his upcoming philosophy midterm, but his mind kept wandering to a pair of intriguing eyes that changed from blue to green to grey at the drop of a hat. And what was up with those streaks of silver in them? There was no way those eyes were natural. They had to be colored contacts. But what about the way the color changed constantly? It was driving him nuts.

Sighing, he lay down, giving up on studying. He wondered if Kurt would call him. He had to admit to himself that he was infatuated with the pale skinned boy, but he had recognized that look in those impossibly colored eyes. That look of loneliness, of finally finding someone who understood where you've been, what you've been through.

Blaine had always thought he had given up when he came to Dalton. He hadn't stood up for himself at his old school. He wondered if he could have stuck it out at Westerville High, proved to them that they couldn't break him. Sure, Wes and David had assured him that he wasn't broken, that everyone deserved to feel safe. But was safe enough for him?

Sighing again, he shut off his lamp and rolled on to his side, hoping the pale boy would call him if he needed someone to talk to. Maybe if he could help Kurt, it would help himself as well.

…

Kurt sighed as he woke up the next morning. He was a bit disappointed. He knew all about lifemate shared dreams, but apparently being two hours away was too far to experience them with Blaine. If Blaine even was his lifemate. It was frustrating.

He'd loved hearing his mom telling him all about finding your lifemate when he was a child, and knew all the symptoms. The major one was not being able to read or control them. He hadn't been able to read Blaine. But he was only sixteen. There could be other reasons he couldn't read the boy. Perhaps he had some kind of mental disorder that made him impossible to read. He hoped not. Blaine had seemed like such a nice guy.

The next one was shared dreams, usually of the erotic nature, but you had to be close to each other to experience that. The last one was the shared pleasure. Lifemates could feel each others pleasure when they were intimate with each other. If he could just get the boy to kiss him, he'd know for sure if he was his lifemate.

With a groan of frustration, Kurt got out of bed and got ready for school.

…

School was terrible that day. Not only had he been slammed into the lockers no less than three times, but he was so distracted, it was difficult to keep his guards up, and he was constantly being subjected to the other student's thoughts. Most of them were mundane, some of them were just gross, but a few were rather disturbing.

He'd just finished lunch and had been heading towards his French class when he'd heard the thought that had shocked him to the bones.

Damn it, why does Hummel have to look so good in those jeans? Doesn't he realize how much he makes me want to just shove him up against the lockers and kiss him senseless?

To say the thought had made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck was an understatement. But what had made it all the more terrifying was the fact that he could actually pinpoint the person who had thought it. David Karofsky. His worst tormentor.

Dave wanted to kiss him? But he hates gays! As if to prove that point, the big jock threw a grape slushie in his face as he walked past. "Out of the way, fag!"

Kurt groaned from the ice cold liquid hitting him in the face, and he was momentarily blinded. His headache got even worse.

"Kurt? Are you okay?" He recognized the voice of his biggest frenemy, Rachel Berry. The short brunette took his arm and started guiding him towards the closest girl's bathroom. "Come on, Let's get you cleaned up. Do you have a spare shirt in your bag?"

Kurt just nodded blindly. He could sense the girl's honest concern for him, and while her thoughts added to his headache, he had to smile to himself when he heard them.

Poor Kurt. I know we all get tormented for being in Glee, but Kurt just seems to get it worse, doesn't he? And he rarely ever complains about it, either. If it was me I'd scream and yell and wonder why me. But Kurt just makes that cute bitch face and keeps his chin up like he knows he's better than all of us. If I didn't know it was just an act I would probably hate him for it.

As she helped him wash the slushie out of his hair, she kept up a prattling conversation about the assignment for the week. "And it was totally unfair of Mr. Schue to make you sing with the boys again this year. I mean with my talent and your background vocals, we'd be unbeatable."

As he dried off and changed shirts, the headache got steadily worse, and he realized he probably was going to need to feed again soon. He still had two bags left in the hidden fridge in the Navigator.

"Thank you, Rachel, for all the help. You really are a good friend, even when you are being narcissistic. I forgot my French book in my car. I'll see you later in Glee, OK?"

She was surprised when he actually hugged her before making his exit. Once at the navigator, he slid into the back seat and closed the door, sealing himself into the darkness. The windows were specially tinted to block most UV rays, and so that no one could see into the backseat. He carefully lifted the bench seat and opened the concealed fridge, taking out the last two bags. A positive, his favorite. He inhaled, and felt his front teeth shift, two fangs sliding forward. He bit into the first bag, sighing as the bag quickly emptied. Disposing of the first bag in the refrigerator, he sat back and closed his eyes as he affixed the second bag to his teeth.

He wondered what Blaine was doing now. Had the other boy thought about him at all today? Or had the hazel eyed boy already forgotten about him? He thought about calling the dark haired boy, but what would he say? 'Hi, I just got slushied by a closeted jock who was thinking about forcibly stealing my first kiss just a few seconds before, and then called me a fag?'

He tossed the second empty bag back into the fridge and carefully closed it up before climbing out of the car and heading back into the school. He'd basically missed his entire French period, so decided just to head to his next class instead. He was waiting outside Calculus when his phone chimed an incoming text from Aunt Marguerite.

Stephanie and Livy will be arriving this evening, along with Teddy and Tricia. -M

Kurt frowned. He recognized two of those names. Tricia was his aunt. He hadn't seen her since he was five, but she had made a lasting impression on him when he had overheard her and his parents talking about a rogue she had taken down.

The other name he recognized, Livy, was the young immortal Aunt Marguerite had been watching over while his cousin Jeanne Louise was on her honeymoon. Why on earth would Aunt Marguerite send him a six year old girl to help him with his problems? Or was this a different Livy? And who were Teddy and Stephanie? He wondered if they were rogue hunters like Tricia.

He would have sent a text back to his Aunt asking for more details, but just then the bell rang, and the hallway soon began to fill up with students pushing past to get to their next class. At least he'd manage to bring his shields back up during his visit to his car. He managed to block out all the unwanted thoughts of his peers.

The rest of the day was better, although Karofsky did shove him into the lockers again just before Glee practice. Kurt was more leery of the jock now that he realized that the boy was probably having difficulty coming to terms with the fact that he was gay and was now taking it out on Kurt. That situation could become volatile quickly if the larger boy decided to get rid of his feelings by getting rid of Kurt.

…

When he got home that afternoon, he had planned to tell his Dad that they would be having company coming that night, but stopped in his tracks just outside the door to the kitchen when he heard his father's voice.

"...and there is something really important I want to talk to you about over dinner tonight, Carole. No, it's nothing bad, I promise, it's just not something I want to talk about over the phone. Yes, I'll see you at seven. Bye."

Kurt was grinning from ear to ear as his dad came out into the living room. "You're finally going to tell her?"

Burt Hummel looked at his son, smiling sheepishly. Burt was something of an anomaly among immortals. He had been born mortal, though that wasn't so unusual. Many lifemates started out mortal. But where as the nanos that granted them virtual immortality generally kept their host bodies in peek condition and looking around twenty-five to thirty years old, Burt still looked older, closer to the forty-five he had been when he was turned. No one knew why he looked older, although Bastien Argeneau was researching it, along with why Uncle Victor and cousin Vincent were unable to live off bagged blood.

He had met Elizabeth Argeneau in 1943 in a tiny village near Auschwitz. Back then she had gone by the name Elspeth Silber, the German word for silver. Burt had been a simple mechanic back then, while Elspeth had been a rogue hunter for the European council. She had been tracking a rogue who had been feeding on the prisoners at the concentration camps. He had helped her capture the rogue, and over the next several years they had worked to free as many of the prisoners as they could. At one point, the Nazis had a bounty on their heads of over five million dollars.

When the war had ended, and it was time for them to move on, They had chosen to change their last name to Hummel, after a nun they had met who had drawn many beautiful sketches of children. Elizabeth had fallen in love with one of the drawings of a porcelain skinned young boy, and she had often said that she hoped that when they had children, they would look like the boy in the sketch.

When Kurt was born, Elizabeth had retired from hunting rogues, and they had settled down in Lima, Ohio, thinking it would be a nice, peaceful location to raise their son. Unfortunately, rogues didn't particularly care if you were retired. When Kurt was eight, a rogue had set up shop in Akron, turning several people, including half of the show choir Vocal Adrenaline, before Lucian, head of the North American council and Elizabeth's uncle, had heard about it and asked his niece to check it out.

Elizabeth had not returned. The rogue had managed to behead her before her back up could arrive.

The loss of his lifemate had hit Burt pretty hard, especially since they had only been together a short amount of time, relatively speaking. It had been a pleasant shock for both Hummel men when Burt realized he couldn't read the mother of his son's friend, Finn.

"Yeah, I'm going to tell her tonight when she comes over for dinner."

"I'm happy for you, Dad, and I know Carole is going to be happy when you tell her. I can tell she loves you very much."

"Thanks, kiddo. Now, who the hell is Blaine, and why does he keep popping up in your thoughts?"

Kurt was mortified. He'd forgotten about that part of finding your lifemate. Other immortals could read you more easily. Usually his dad was pretty good about staying out of his thoughts, but apparently Kurt was projecting them, and despite having just found his own lifemate, he wasn't oblivious to Kurt's dilemma.

Sighing, he told his dad about his trip to Dalton the day before, and his call to Aunt Marguerite. "Tricia and three others are going to be here tonight to help me out. I don't want you to worry about it, Dad. You just concentrate on Carole, okay?"

His dad reluctantly agreed, and Kurt sent a text to Aunt Marguerite, telling her to let the others know to meet Kurt at the Lima Bean instead of the house. He then went into the Kitchen and finished preparing dinner for Burt and Carole.

The latter was just arriving as Kurt was leaving. He hugged the woman tightly and kissed her cheek. "Relax, it's a good thing, I promise you. Just remember he loves you very much, and would do anything to make you happy."

She just looked more confused as he released her, but smiled sweetly at him. "Aren't you staying for dinner?"

"No, I'm going to meet some friends at the Lima Bean."

"Oh, okay, well, I'll see you later, sweetie."

He smiled at her again, and then left. He really liked Carole. In many ways, she reminded him of Aunt Marguerite. Both of them were kind, and loving and tended to mother everyone they meet. He knew that if the two of them ever met, they'd become immediate friends, and any single immortal should beware, because they were both natural matchmakers.

…

"Oh my god, life is so not fair! All the really hot ones really are gay, aren't they?"

Kurt looked up at the those words, ready to shred the girl, but stopped when he saw her. She had hair that was dyed raven wing black, had kohl lined eyes, and a fake lip ring. She was wearing a short pleated black skirt and a form fitting v neck tee in a dark maroon color, which she had topped with a black velvet vest that hung lose, but held together with a series of chains that were accented by a small skull brooch (Kurt had that exact same chain and skull broach at home). Her belt was studded, and her boots were Jimmy Choo.

"You actually have this broach at home?" She asked surprised. If her gold streaked eyes hadn't given her away, the fact that she had just read his thoughts made it perfectly obvious this...girl...was one of his kind. She smiled brilliantly at him. "Yes, I'm Stephanie. The others will be here in a moment. Livy had to go to the bathroom, and Teddy and Tricia are still so new they can't walk three steps without kissing."

Kurt decided he liked this wild girl. "Thanks, I like you too, Kurt. It just sucks that you're gay. We would of had gorgeous kids who would totally rock the fashion world."

He couldn't help himself, he laughed so hard he couldn't stop.


	3. You Learn Something New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Stephanie in this chapter, plus some Livie, New Directions, Blaine, Niff, and Wevid, but first up, Burt and Carole and the lifemate talk! Those of you new to the Argeneau series, this is where you'll learn about the nanos!

Burt didn't think he had ever been more nervous in his life. Not even when he'd faced down two dozen Nazi soldiers helping Elizabeth capture that rogue when he'd first met her. Or even the day Kurt had been born and he held the tiny creature in his arms the first time. He'd been scared to death that he was going to drop him. But right now that paled to what he felt trying to tell Carole about his kind.

He had always wondered how Elizabeth would have told him about immortals if he hadn't found out by accident. She had gone out late one night, and he had followed her, not knowing that she was going after the rogue. He had seen her sneaking into the concentration camp, and had wanted to scream and shout at her for taking such a risk, but that would have drawn the guards' attention.

But she had been spotted, and an alarm had sounded. He'd watched in horror as she had been shot three times in the stomach. But she didn't collapse as he had expected. Instead, she had merely grabbed the guard who had shot her and sank fangs into his neck. Fangs!

It had been such a shock, and if he hadn't already been in love with her, he might have run away in terror. Instead, he waited for her to explain everything to him, and when she told him they were lifemates, he had agreed to let her turn him.

He'd apparently been sitting there silently reminiscing for too long. Carole reached out and took his hand. "What ever it is you have to tell me, it can't be that bad. You know you can tell me anything, Burt."

He smiled at her, and raised her hand to his lips for a quick kiss. He took a deep breath. "You know I was married before, I've told you about Elizabeth. But I've never told you about how she and I met."

Carole smiled sweetly at him. She knew he had loved his first wife dearly. She wasn't jealous. She had been married before too. Burt knew all about Christopher, how they met, and how he had died. She squeezed his hand in encouragement.

"We met in Poland, actually, near Auschwitz."

"Oh? Were you on vacation there, or something?" She seemed a bit confused.

"I was born there. In 1898."

Her brows furrowed. "You were born in 1898?" He nodded solemnly. "Um, Burt, are you feeling okay? I mean, if you were born in 1898 you'd be over a hundred years old."

"One hundred and Twelve. I was forty-five when I met Elizabeth Argeneau, but she went by Elspeth Silber back then. She was a hunter searching for a rogue vampire who was preying on the poor prisoners in the concentration camps. I met her when she first arrived in the village needing a mechanic to repair the car she was driving."

Carole was just looking at him in concern, not sure if this was some kind of joke, or if the man was having a mental break down. "Burt, dear, you're worrying me. You can't possibly be over a hundred years old. Vampire aren't re-"

She stopped talking as he opened his mouth and a pair of fangs slowly slid down out of his upper gums, proving that thy were indeed real. To her credit, she didn't freak out. She didn't scream and runaway. She didn't faint, either.

"Please don't be afraid of me. I would never hurt you, Carole. Let me explain about my kind, how we came to be. Will you listen before you make any judgments?"

She thought for a few minutes. Kurt had told her not to worry, that Burt would never harm her. She just nodded her head, afraid to speak just yet. Burt smiled at her, the fangs having retracted. "First, I was born human, just like you. When I fell in love with Elizabeth, she explained about immortals, how they came to be, and told me about lifemates, and that I was hers. I allowed her to change me to be with her."

He watched her face, saw that she was really listening and not about to fall apart. He squeezed her hand again and continued. "The first thing you need to know about immortals is that they originated from a medical experiment that took place several millennia ago in what is now known as Atlantis. Atlantis was a extremely advanced civilization that was cut off from the rest of the primitive world by the sea and by mountains. Scientist in Atlantis managed to develop nanos, and used them in bio-engineering to create a way to heal patients faster."

She nodded her head, being a nurse, she understood the concept, though modern science hadn't progressed that far yet. He smiled again, proud of her response so far.

"The problem was, the scientist in charge of the research was a little lazy. Rather than programming different nanos to heal different disease or injuries, they simply programmed all the nanos with the basic schematic of a healthy human specimen, told them to return the body to peak condition, and then shut down and be flushed out of the body. This turned out to be an issue, because the human body is constantly bombarded with small injuries, germs, even aging and sun exposure. So the nanos never shut down. They just keep repairing the body constantly, creating new nanos as needed,"

"So why the fangs?" She asked, her voice steady.

"The nanos use blood to fuel themselves, and to create new nanos to make the repairs. They use up blood faster than the human body can replace it. After Atlantis fell, The nanos adapted their bodies to make it easier to get the blood they needed. They gave the immortals super human speed, strength, hearing, and sight. They improved their night vision so they could hunt at night and avoid the damage from the sun. And they gave them the ability to read and control mortals to make it easier to blend in without causing fear and panic."

Carole sat in stunned silence for a few minutes. "Have you been controlling my mind?"

His heart almost broke at the look of fear that crossed her face briefly. He shook his head no. "I can't read or control you. Elizabeth told me that that is how she knew I was her lifemate. She couldn't read or control me."

She relaxed a bit at this news. "What exactly is a lifemate?"

He sat back a little in his seat. "As I said, immortals can read and control most mortals, and some of the really old ones, the ones who came out of Atlantis, can read and control the much younger ones. We have to constantly guard our minds when around other immortals. And we have to shield ourselves from the unwanted thoughts of mortals, too. But with a lifemate, since we can neither read or control them, and they can't read or control us, we can relax our guards, be ourselves. But there is much more to it. A lifemate is someone who compliments you in every way. They are quite simply the most perfect person in the world for you. They have most of the same interests, they like many of the same things, they enjoy being with each other, and they love fiercely."

Carole smiled a little wistfully at this. Burt continued. "Most immortals wait centuries before they find a lifemate. Elizabeth was nearly six hundred years old when she met me. When I lost her, I never expected to find another lifemate, especially so soon. But you, Carole Hudson, are my lifemate as well."

…

"Wait, so you mean, you hear every thought, from every mortal and immortal, regardless of age?" Kurt was surprised by this news. He'd been impressed with Stephanie from the moment he set eyes on her, but he couldn't understand how she hadn't gone insane from the constant barrage of thoughts. He got a massive headache every time his shields even slipped a little bit.

She shrugged casually. "Lucian and Bastien are working on ways to help, and Elvi and Victor had a special room constructed just for me with thicker walls. Harper also had one of the rooms in his penthouse remodeled for me. That way I have a sanctuary where I can go when things get too bad."

She took a sip from her dark chocolate mocha. "Actually, one of the reasons I was sent here to help you is to try something called desensitivity therapy. They think if I'm in a normal high school setting, at least for a few months, it might help me sort of block it out, turn it into nothing more than white noise that I don't really notice anymore unless I focus on specific thoughts."

Kurt smiled and took her hand. She smiled back, looking around the coffee shop. She spotted Livy making her way towards them from the bathrooms. The young girl was making a face as she reached the table. "Teddy and Tricia are doing it again. I don't know why Aunt Elvi and Uncle Victor couldn't have come with us instead."

The pretty little girl looked up at Kurt. "I remember you. Aunt Marguerite and I came and visited you last May for your birthday."

"That's right," he smiled at the child. "And your birthday is coming up soon, too, isn't it?"

She smiled brightly. "Yes! Next week! I can't wait! I'll be seven years old! I won't be a baby anymore!"

Kurt laughed and hugged her. "Well, we'll have to go shopping someday before then and find you the perfect Big Girl outfit for you to wear for your birthday!"

A voice from the entrance caught his attention.

"Kurt!"

He smiled at the dark skinned diva, waving her over. "Mercedes! Hi! What are you doing here? I thought you were going to the movies with Tina and Rachel?"

She hugged him when he stood to greet her. "The movie doesn't start until later, so we decided to meet here first." She glanced curiously at the two girls he had been sitting with.

Stephanie smiled and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Stephanie McGill. I'm sort of Kurt's cousin."

Mercedes smiled sweetly as they shook hands. "Sort of?"

"Stephanie's sister, Dani, married my cousin Decker. And this little angel is Olivia, A.K.A. Livy, who is also a sort of cousin. Her dad, Paul, just married my cousin, Jeanne Louise. Girls, this is my best friend, Mercedes. Oh, and here comes my aunt, Katricia and I assume that is Teddy, her fiance."

"Wow, Kurt, I didn't know you had so many cousins. Nice to meet all of you!"

Kurt laughed. If only Mercedes knew the half of it. He'd lost count of the number of cousins he had. Around a hundred first cousins, and more than three times that number of second and third cousins. And that didn't include all the cousins by marriage like Stephanie and Livy.

Tricia cut into his thoughts as she and Teddy finally reached the table, looking a little rumpled. "Kurt! Wow, you've grown so much since the last time I saw you!" She hugged him tight. "I'm so sorry I didn't make it to your mother's funeral. I was on assignment and didn't learn about it until almost two weeks later."

Kurt smiled up at her. "It's okay, Tricia. I understand. And who is this?"

Tricia smiled happily up at her lifemate. "Kurt, this is Teddy Brunswick, my Fiance. He's the sheriff of Port Henry, Ontario."

The handsome man held his hand out to Kurt, who shook it. "How do you do, son? Tricia has told me so much about you."

Kurt introduced them to Mercedes, who greeted them warmly. They talked amiably for a few minutes before Tina and Rachel arrived. Kurt made another round of introductions, before the three girls excused themselves to make it to the movie theater on time.

"I like your friends," Stephanie said. "That Rachel girl is something else, but all three of them really seem to care about you."

Kurt blushed and smiled. "They've been good to me. Everyone in New Directions have. I don't think I would still be sane without them."

"What is New Directions?" Teddy asked.

"My Glee club. Show choir. We have Sectionals coming up in a few weeks." The older man just shook his head in confusion. His lifemate just laughed and patted his shoulder, whispering something teasingly in his ear.

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Before you two get distracted and sneak off to find someplace secluded to pass out in, can we talk about Kurt's dilemma?" She stage whispered to Kurt, "it's a good thing this place has a sound proof family restroom. Who knows who would have walked in and found those two unconscious on the floor otherwise?"

…

"Blaine, please stop, I'm trying to conjugate French verbs here." Jeff said, not looking up from his book. They were sitting at a table in the commons along with Nick, Wes, and David.

"Stop doing what?" Blaine asked, absently checking his phone for the thousandth time that day.

"Humming Teenage Dream." Jeff replied.

"Checking your phone every five seconds." Nick said.

"Acting moody." David added.

"Mooning over that McKinley spy." Was Wes' contribution.

The dark haired Warbler sighed and put his phone away. "I'm sorry. I just can't stop thinking about him. And I'm not mooning over him. It's not like I'm attracted to him or anything." Liar. "He just..."

"He reminds you of you when you first came to Dalton." Wes finished for him, closing his AP Calculus book and facing the shorter boy. "You want to help him face his demons, to stand up to his bullies, because you couldn't face up to your tormentors."

Blaine groaned. His friends knew him so well. "I just need to help him. I'll always feel like I failed somehow if I don't."

David put away his English Lit essay and moved to sit beside the younger boy. "Come on, Blaine. You coming here doesn't mean you're a coward, or that you failed in anyway. You almost died, for heaven's sake! My dad was the surgeon on duty when they brought you in to the ER that night, Blaine. He hasn't told me everything that happened to you, but he still has nightmares about it. I mean, I'm straight and I was already enrolled here at Dalton, but he still didn't want to let me out of the house for a week after he sewed you up. He was terrified someone would do to me what those animals did to you."

Nick shut his AP Chemistry book and put away his notes. "You're one of the bravest guys I know, Blaine. You can't keep asking yourself 'what if?' I'm not saying you shouldn't befriend this Kurt kid, it seemed like he really needed a friend who understood where he was coming from. I wish Jeff and I had had the chance to meet him, too." He smiled at his boyfriend, who was still working on his French homework, but glanced up and smiled at him when his name was mentioned. "But what I am trying to say is, don't try and use this as a way to redeem yourself. There is no redemption necessary. Use this as a chance to be the boy's friend. Who knows, maybe something more will develop from it."

Blaine sighed again, smiling at his friends. "Thanks guys. I really appreciate all the support you've given me over the last year and a half."

"Aww, we love you too, Blainers!" Jeff said, finally putting away his French homework. "Group hug!"

The boys all laughed and piled on top of the olive skinned boy.

…

Friday morning, Kurt drove Stephanie to school and got her registered. She was wearing a red and black plaid skirt, black knee high stockings, black Jimmy Choo's ankle boots with chains wrapped around them, an AC/DC Tshirt slashed at the sleeves and tied at the waist, several leather and/or chain bracelets, and a falling dove choker. Her hair was pulled up into pigtails on either side of her head. They chatted about her old school as he showed her to her locker and found her first class of the morning.

"I'm just down the hall in History this period. I can meet you after class and show you to your next class, or you can ask Artie. He's in this class. He's the geeky boy in the wheelchair. He's nice, you'll like him."

"Thanks. I'll talk to you later." and she hugged him.

"Yo, Homo, what happened, you finally decided you prefer pussy?"

Stephanie stood up straight and looked towards the behemoth who had spoken. "Not that it's any of your business, but he happens to be my cousin. And even if he wasn't, he's more of a man than you'll ever be."

Kurt smiled at her as the jock, Azimio, rolled his eyes and walked off. "Whatever."

Stephanie frowned as he walked away. "You deal with these people every day?"

Kurt just shrugged. "That was almost civil, for him. Don't worry about me. I'm fine. Go on to class. I'll see you later."

He could feel her eyes on him as he walked away, but he didn't look back. He'd mentioned to them last night that many of the mortals at the school picked on him because he was gay, but he had down played it. He knew he hadn't fooled Stephanie or Tricia. Tricia was much older than him, and probably had read him like a book, and Stephanie, well he knew she had seen right through him, but she hadn't wanted to believe mortals could be so cruel at this age.

He'd learned more about her situation as they'd talked the night before, and he knew she was well acquainted with cruelty and torment. He hoped that after that encounter with Azimio, she didn't become a target of the jocks. He made a note to talk to the other Glee kids about making friends with her. Maybe she could join New Directions. He wondered if she could sing or dance?

…

Stephanie took a set near the front of the classroom and looked around, trying to filter out some of the thoughts bombarding her. She had been practicing this technique for a couple of weeks now, trying to compartmentalize the jumble. It helped some that the walls seemed to be extra thick, possibly heavy brick, blocking out the thoughts from those outside the classroom. She could focus on the two dozen or so minds that were confined in the room with her.

Most of the thoughts were your typical day to day thoughts;

'Did I remember to feed the cat before I left for school?'

'Is that a zit on my chin?'

'Damn, I didn't finish my homework.'

'I wonder if Shelly would go out with me?'

Then there were the racier thoughts;

'Whoa, new girl is hot! I'd definitely tap that!' (Stephanie rolled her eyes.)

By the time the teacher had arrived, she'd managed to be able to determine which thoughts belonged to who, and could focus on each individual while blocking out the others, at least briefly. The class was just starting when the boy who must be the Artie Kurt had mentioned, looked over at her and smiled kindly.

She smiled back, and focused on his thoughts for a moment, before frowning in confusion. She was distracted when the teacher called her name. "Class, we have a new student. Miss McGill, would you like to introduce yourself and tell us a bit about yourself?"

"Oh, uh. Yeah, sure. My Name is Stephanie McGill, I'm sixteen, I live in Port Henry, Ontario, Canada, but I am staying with family here in Lima for a few months. No, I don't like hockey, no, I don't say 'eh,' at the end of every sentence, no, I don't like maple syrup, yes, I do like skiing. I think that covers all the stereotypes, doesn't it?"

A few kids chuckled, including Artie. She sat back down, and the boy leaned over to her. "I like your Tshirt. I'm Artie, by the way."

She blushed and shook his hand. "I know. Kurt told me you were in this class."

"Kurt?"

"Yeah, he's my cousin, sort of. I'm staying with him while I'm here."

"Awesome! Let me know if you need anything while you are here, or if you just want to talk."

She smiled shyly at him again and nodded.

…

Kurt didn't see Stephanie again until just before lunch. She was standing in front of her locker, just staring at it with a bit of a blank look on her face.

"Hey, how's it going? Find your classes okay?" She didn't look at him, just nodded her head yes. "What's wrong? Has someone been bothering you?"

She turned to look at him, and her eyes were wide, almost as if she was in shock. "I can't read Artie."

Kurt's jaw dropped.


	4. Best Laid Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little more New Directions in this chapter, along with some Warblers! Oh, and more Coffee!

Kurt lead Stephanie out to his Navigator and into the backseat. He grabbed four bags of blood from the hidden fridge. He handed two to the younger girl, along with a straw. He watched as she punctured the first bag with the straw and began drinking the blood through it. He had never met an immortal who didn't have fangs before. He knew about the endentates, of course. They were the result of the first batch of nanos the scientists in Atlantis had tested.

Unfortunately, that batch had been flawed. One third of the patients who received the first batch died. Another third went insane, and the final third came out fine, but never developed the fangs they needed to feed. Kurt drank his two bags of blood as quickly as he could, then disposed of them back in the fridge, along with Stephanie's two bags and straw.

"Feeling a little better?" He asked her.

She nodded her dyed black head. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" He asked, confused.

"Well, I'm supposed to be helping you work out your problem regarding your lifemate, not finding one of my own."

Kurt laughed. "Oh, Stephanie, you don't have to apologize! Artie is a great guy!"

She blushed. "He seemed really nice. And it's not like I can claim him any time soon, anyway. We'd have to wait until he is older and can move somewhere no one knows him before I could turn him."

Kurt was confused, and then he understood. The nanos would repair the damage to the baritone's spine. He'd be able to walk again. He wouldn't be able to explain that away easily. It was such a shame that Stephanie couldn't turn him now. He knew that the younger boy had been in hip hop dance competitions before his accident.

He reached out and squeezed the girl's hand. "Things will work out. I'm happy that he'll have you in his life."

She smiled and squeezed back. "Thanks. Since there's not much I can do about my lifemate situation right now, let's focus on yours. I still think you should just call him and ask him out."

Kurt shook his head. "I thought about that, but if it turns out he isn't my lifemate, I don't want to lead him on. I need a way to get together with him without it seeming like a date."

They left the Navigator and headed back inside the school before the end of lunch. They were tossing ideas back and forth on how to approach Blaine when Stephanie stiffened. Kurt's shields were firmly in place today, so he didn't pick up on the malevolent thought, but Stephanie heard it crystal clear.

He's doing it again! Flaunting himself in those tight jeans! Making me feel these things I don't want to feel! He's such a tease! He's doing it deliberately! It's all his fault! I need to teach him a lesson!

Stephanie reached out and pulled the auburn haired immortal out of the way just as Karofsky was about to slam him into the lockers. She glared at the large jock, instinctively reaching for the mortal's mind.

Leave! Go home and forget about Kurt for today. Think about why you are feeling the way you feel.

She pushed the compulsion into the boy's mind, and then pulled Kurt down the hallway towards a bathroom. After making certain they were alone, she turned back to Kurt. "That jock has it out for you! He wants to hurt you bad!"

Kurt frowned. "I figured as much. He hasn't come to terms with his sexuality, and is blaming me because of it."

She nodded. "I put a compulsion in his mind to go home and forget about you for today, and to think about why he feels the way he does, but I'm not sure how well it will work."

"Thanks."

"No problem." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Actually, this is perfect! We can use this as an excuse for you to meet with Blaine! Call him and tell him you felt threatened today, and need to talk about it! Ask him to meet you for coffee this weekend!"

Kurt smiled. "That's brilliant!"

They discussed the plan for a few more minutes before they had to head to class. As they reached her Spanish class, Kurt stopped her outside the door.

"Hey, before I forget, I was going to ask you if you wanted to join Glee club? We have practice after school today. All you have to do is show up and sing something. Everyone pretty much gets in. Can you sing?"

She laughed. "I love to sing. Sure, I'll see you there. I even have a song in mind."

"Great! See you later!" He kissed her cheek and took off for his next class. He pulled out his phone and composed a text while he waited for class to start.

…

Blaine had just finished lunch and was leaving the dining hall when his phone chimed an incoming text. He pulled it out to check, not recognizing the number. Curious, he opened it.

Hey, It's Kurt, remember me? The spy? Having a bad day. Could use someone to talk to. Can we meet for coffee tomorrow?-K

Blaine smiled. He was relieved the pale boy had called. He really wanted to help, even if it only meant offering a sympathetic ear. He typed out a quick reply.

Coffee sounds good. Meet you at the Lima Been at 10?-B

He saved Kurt's number to his contacts even as the confirmation came in from the other boy. Blaine's smile lasted the rest of the day, and through Warblers practice. Wes and David noticed his good mood, and he told them about Kurt's text. They congratulated him and patted him on the back, which kind of annoyed him.

"We're just getting coffee! It's not a date! He just wants someone to talk to about the trouble he's having at school."

Wes smiled. "He's reaching out to you, Blaine. He needs a friend. And maybe friendship will turn into something deeper. Either way, though, I think you both need each other. Especially if he makes you smile like that."

The dark haired Warbler smiled again. Maybe Wes was right.

…

Back at McKinley, Kurt waited for Stephanie outside the choir room before Glee, smiling when he saw her approaching with Mercedes and Artie. The three of them were laughing about something. He couldn't help notice the way the younger boy was looking at the new girl. Kurt smiled.

"Hey! Come on, Mr. Schue will be here any minute!" He took her hand and lead her into the room. "So, what were the three of you laughing about?"

She giggled. "Artie was telling me about when you guys first started New Directions and there were just five of you to begin with. He was singing Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat. It sounded funny. I wish I had seen it!"

Kurt laughed just as Mr. Schue entered. He jumped to his feet. "Oh, Mr. Schue! This is my cousin, Stephanie. I think you met her earlier in Spanish class. She'd like to audition for New Directions!"

The sweater vest clad teacher smiled. "Yes, Stephanie, it's good to see you. Do you have a song ready?"

Stephanie nodded and walked to the band to give them her song selection. When she turned back around, Rachel, Tina, Mercedes, and Artie all smiled encouragingly at her. The music began, and she took a deep breath, smiling brightly.

Listen baby, ain't no mountain high,  
Ain't no valley low, ain't no river wide enough baby  
If you need me call me, no matter where you are,  
No matter how far; don't worry baby  
Just call my name; I'll be there in a hurry  
You don't have to worry,

She began to dance around the room as she sang, pulling Kurt out of his seat and twirling him around. Brittany and Mike joined them, laughing and dancing.

Oh baby there ain't no mountain high enough,  
Ain't no valley low enough,  
Ain't no river wide enough  
To keep me from getting to you babe

Remember the day I set you free  
I told you you could always count on me darling  
From that day on, I made a vow,  
I'll be there when you want me,  
Some way, some how

Oh baby there ain't no mountain high enough,  
Ain't no valley low enough,  
Ain't no river wide enough  
To keep me from getting to you babe

She smiled and casually slipped into Artie's lap, making him laugh as she sang.

Oh no darling  
No wind, no rain  
Or winters cold can stop me baby, no no baby  
'Cause you are my goal  
If you're ever in trouble;  
I'll be there on the double  
Just send for me, oh baby, ha

My love is alive  
Way down in my heart  
Although we are miles apart  
If you ever need a helping hand,  
I'll be there on the double  
Just as fast as I can  
Don't you know that there

The rest of the group joined in, singing and dancing.

Ain't no mountain high enough,  
Ain't no valley low enough,  
Ain't no river wide enough  
To keep me from getting to you babe

Don'tcha know that there  
Ain't no mountain high enough,  
Ain't no valley low enough,  
Ain't no river wide enough  
Ain't mountain high enough  
Ain't no valley low enough

When the song ended, they all cheered and welcomed her to New Directions. Those who hadn't already met her introduced themselves. She recognized the Mohawked boy from her first class that day. He was the one who had thought she was hot and wanted to 'tap' her. After he'd been introduced, Kurt had warned her about the self proclaimed sex shark. She just laughed. They both knew there was only one boy in the room that interested her. Once they settled down, she sat between Kurt and Artie.

…

Saturday, Kurt arrived at the Lima Bean early, accompanied by Stephanie. She would observe from across the coffee shop. She had assured him that the moment she saw Blaine, she'd know if the darker boy was his lifemate or not, without having to read him at all.

"How?" He asked curiously.

She shrugged. "Lucien seems to think I can actually hear the nanos communicating. The sound changes when lifemates are close together. Think of it as picking up radio stations."

"But Blaine doesn't have nanos for you to hear."

She just shrugged again. "I don't really understand it myself. It's kind of like your nanos recognize him and know that at some point in the future some of them will be part of him, too. That sounds corny, doesn't it?"

Kurt laughed. "Just a little. But it makes me wonder if that is why the nanos don't shy away from the wound when an immortal is turning their lifemate. I mean they stay away from the area when you try to draw them out with a syringe, or when you are wounded, they don't just flow out with the blood, but they are present when you turn your lifemate."

"Actually, they do sometimes flow out with the blood. Victor's lifemate Elvi was turned accidentally when she was in a van that crashed. There was an immortal in the van who was seriously injured, and some of his blood ended up in Elvi."

Kurt was surprised. "Really? I didn't know that."

They talked for a few more minutes before the girl went to sit on the other side of the room, pretending to read one of Kurt's Vogue magazines. Kurt went up to the counter to get a refill on his grande non fat mocha, and ordered a medium drip for Blaine. He received his order just as Blaine arrived.

He smiled at the other boy as he passed him the cup.

"Thanks, Kurt, but you didn't have to buy me coffee."

"It's the least I can do since you drove all the way here." He glanced over at Stephanie, who smiled and gave him the thumbs up. He almost sagged in relief. Blaine was his lifemate. Now he just had to figure out how to get closer to the other boy so that he could convince him that they were meant to be together.

They sat down, and Kurt started talking about how he was worried about Karofsky's attitude towards him. He didn't come right out and say the other boy was a closeted gay, but hinted that he suspected there was something the other boy was hiding and that he was using Kurt as a scapegoat.

As they talked about Dalton and it's zero tolerance policy, Kurt noticed Stephanie studying the other boy, and wondered at the frown on her face. What was she reading from Blaine that had her so troubled? The dark haired boy didn't notice Kurt's distraction. Soon the conversation turned to music. They had similar tastes, though they had argued good naturedly about who was the better over all performer, Katy Perry or Lady Gaga.

They agreed to meet again for coffee on Wednesday, the only day Blaine didn't have an after school activity. After the Dalton boy had left, Stephanie moved over to sit with Kurt.

"You need to transfer to Dalton as soon as you can. There are things in Blaine's past that he needs to tell you about. He wants to help you with your problems because he didn't get the chance to face his own problems."

"What problem?" Kurt asked, dread filling him.

Stephanie shook her head. "He has to tell you. It's the only way he'll be able to deal with what happened and move on so he can be your lifemate."

Kurt nodded. "Okay, but I can't just switch schools without a reason."

Stephanie sighed. "Come on, we're going to have to talk to your dad, and Tricia and Teddy."

…

Dinner that night was interesting. While Stephanie was actually staying with Burt and Kurt, their house wasn't big enough for the others, who were renting a small apartment from Mrs. Wilkersham up the street. The small dining room table that comfortably sat four was a little crowded with six people occupying it.

Kurt had cooked up a storm that afternoon, and every inch of space was occupied with plates and platters of food. He'd made a seafood pasta, salad, homemade breadsticks, a warm corn pudding, and a chocolate souffle for dessert.

As they sat down to eat, Stephanie filled them in on the events of the last couple of days (leaving out the part about Artie being her lifemate, Kurt noticed.) They discussed ways for Kurt to transfer to Dalton.

It wasn't a matter of finance. While Burt Hummel was a humble man who lived frugally, the family was by no means wanting for money. They were part of the Argeneau family, after all. After Elizabeth's death, Kurt had inherited her shares in Argeneau Enterprises, the widely diversified family business with offices on every continent except Antarctica and Australia.

The dilemma was what story he would give his friends at McKinley and at Dalton to explain why he was transferring. He couldn't just introduce his cousin at McKinley then ditch her for another school. Plus he didn't want to hurt the feelings of his friends in New Directions. They had to believe there was a really good reason he was leaving them just before Sectionals and joining their competition.

"You say you've been being bullied a lot this year, and that some of it has escalated?" Teddy asked, using his napkin to reach out and wipe salad dressing from Livy's chin.

Kurt swallowed the bite of corn pudding he'd taken, nodding. They had told them about Karofsky's growing malevolence toward Kurt, and the reason behind it. "Yeah, Rachel was talking to the other girls about it the other day. She doesn't know I know, of course. Anyway, she was trying to get the ones who have boyfriends on the football team to stand up to him after football practice."

"That's good, because I have an idea." The immortal sheriff said, smiling. After listening to the idea, Kurt knew it would work, but wasn't sure he liked it.

"It's a sound idea, but there's just one part I object to. I don't want to out Karofsky. That's not fair to him. If we can do this someway that doesn't reveal his issues, then I'm all for it, otherwise, I'd like to think of something else."

They all agreed, but Burt made one request. "Can we wait until after the wedding?"

It took Kurt a moment to realize what he said. His face light up. "You asked her to marry you?"

Burt grinned. "Yes, and she said yes, and she agreed to let me turn her after the honeymoon."

Kurt jumped up and hugged his dad. "That's great! When is the wedding?"

"Well, I was thinking in two weeks, nothing too fancy. That still gives you a couple of weeks before your Sectionals. I was actually kind of hoping New Directions would sing at the wedding, since both you and Finn are in it."

Kurt beamed. "That's perfect, Dad! You just relax and let me take care of everything! Oh! I have to call Carole and talk to her about the planning!"

They all laughed as he dashed out of the room.


	5. Shopping is Cathartic

On Sunday, Kurt found himself at the mall in Columbus with Carole, Stephanie, and Livy. They had had to go to Columbus as the malls in Lima and Westerville didn't have a bridal shop, and they were going to get Carole's wedding dress today.

This was the first time he had seen the older woman since his dad had told her about immortals. When she had arrived for breakfast early that morning, He had hugged her and smiled sweetly.

"How are you holding up?" He'd asked.

She laughed, and hugged him back. "To be honest, I still feel like this is all a dream and I'm going to wake up any minute. The only reason I haven't freaked out is because I know what a good kid you are."

They went into the kitchen. It was early, but Kurt had prepared a large breakfast for everyone, including Tricia and Teddy. Kurt made introductions as he served breakfast. "Where is Finn this morning?"

"He's at Puck's for some video game marathon. I haven't told him about the wedding yet. Burt and I are going to tell him tomorrow at school, so I'd appreciate it if you'd act surprised when we make the announcement."

Kurt laughed. "I can do that."

They'd spent the rest of breakfast answering all of Carole's questions about immortals, endentates, no-fangers, and rogues. Carole had been surprised to learn that Tricia was a rogue hunter. Tricia smiled. "Immortals really don't adhere to the usual gender roles. Kurt's mother was a rogue hunter, too."

Burt had mentioned that, but it hadn't really sunk in at the time. She glanced at the pale boy, who had suddenly gone silent. She remembered that Burt had said a rogue had killed Elizabeth. She reached out and took his hand and smiled at him. "Your mom sounds like a remarkable woman. I wish I had met her."

Kurt smiled sadly at her. "She would have liked you. She'd be happy that dad found you."

Livy smiled at Kurt. "You're going to get a new mommy too! Just like me! My Mommy went to heaven after the she died, but now Jeanne Louise is my Mommy!"

Kurt smiled at her and reached out to ruffle her hair. "That's right, angel! Your mommy and my mommy are probably together right now, watching over us and smiling so big, so happy for us!"

They finished their breakfast, and the four set out for Columbus. As they wandered the mall, window shopping at first, they talked more about the difference between being born immortal and being turned, and how things were much different now than just a couple hundred years ago before blood banks came into existence. And then Stephanie brought up The Laws.

"The Laws?" Carole asked.

Kurt stopped in his tracks. "Wait, Dad forgot to tell you about the laws?"

He looked around, seeing all the people around them. He took her hand and lead her to the food court, the two girls following them. They took a table far enough away from anyone else to not be overheard. Kurt gave Stephanie some money to get them some coffee, and they settled in as Kurt began to speak.

"Okay, first off, we're governed by the North American council. Uncle Lucien is the head of the council. The laws here are a little different than the ones in Europe or South America, but there are three main laws that immortals most follow, or face a death penalty. The first law is an immortal can only turn one mortal, ever. They usually save their one turn for their lifemate."

"Okay," Carole began, just wanting make sure she understood. "So, if Burt turns me, and something happened to me, he'd never be able to turn another, even if he found another lifemate?"

Kurt nodded. "Exactly."

Stephanie smiled at her. "The second law is that immortal couples are only allowed to have one child every hundred years."

"Oh, I can't have babies anymore. I had complications when Finn was born and...Why are you looking at me like that?" Carole looked at the two teenagers, who seemed to be grinning goofily at her.

Kurt just blushed, so Stephanie had to explain. "The nanos keep you in peek condition and repair any damage or injuries. When you are ready, you'll be able to conceive. You'll have to increase your blood intake, and you'll have to wait another eighty-four years, but you can have more kids if you want."

Carole was shocked by this news. And then a look of confusion crossed her face. "Why would I have to wait eighty-four years?"

Kurt cleared his throat. "Because of me. I count as dad's one child this hundred years. But in truth you don't actually have to wait that long. If you decided to have a baby a few years earlier than that, you'll just have to wait the extra time until you have the next one."

The older woman blushed, but nodded. "I assume those first two laws are a form of population control?" The two teens nodded. "Okay, what's the third law?"

"The third law is that you aren't allowed to feed from mortals unless there are extreme extenuating circumstances." Kurt frowned. "That law is actually a grey area, because in Europe they are allowed to feed 'off the hoof,' but only with mortal lovers. Even here, as long as you don't kill them, there are some exceptions to the rule. My Uncle Victor and cousin Vincent aren't able to survive on bagged blood. Something about some nutrient or enzyme or something not surviving in bagged blood."

"Daddy and Jeanne are working on a new formula for them to try. That's one of the reasons I'm here with Teddy and Tricia." Livy piped up. "They broke something and were all excited about it."

Stephanie smiled at the younger girl. "They had a break through. That means they made progress, it doesn't mean they broke something."

"Oh. Anyway, that's part of the reason I'm here. Also cause I still need to learn to make shields like Stephanie. Oh, and because of the top secret thingy."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Top secret?"

The younger girl looked abashed. "I'm not supposed to talk about it. Something to do with a trip Daddy and Jeanne are going to go on with some other people to look for something in that really old place."

Kurt and Stephanie exchanged a baffled look, then shrugged at each other. They explained a few more lesser laws, and the punishments for each. Once they'd finished their coffee, the shopping began in earnest.

They started in the girl's department, searching for the perfect Big Girl dress for Livy to wear to the birthday party they were going to throw for her on Friday. They found a pale peach colored dress with a lace overlay, and matched it with off-white leggings and peach colored sandles. They picked out a few accessories, and a handful of other outfits for the younger girl.

After that, they stopped at several shops for Stephanie and Kurt, who both had a great time trying on different outfits, laughing at each other's choices. By the time they stopped for a late lunch, both teens had a dozen shopping bags each. The four of them decided to drop their purchases off in the Navigator and head to the Bistro across the parking lot to eat. Lunch was filled with laughter as Stephanie told them all about Drina and Harper and how they finally got together. She also talked about her sister Dani, and Dani's lifemate Decker.

She glossed over the details of her time as the no-fangers' prisoner and her forced turning, but Kurt could tell she was adjusting to her new life. She talked fondly of her foster parents, Victor and Elvi.

Finally, they got to the real reason they had drove all the way to Columbus. "Georgio's Bridal," Kurt announced as they approached the shop. "One of the best Bridal shops in the Midwest."

As they entered, a young woman approached them, giving a fake smile as she eyed the two teens and the child warily, before focusing on Carole. "Hello! Welcome to Georgio's. What can I help you with today?"

Kurt cleared his throat. "My lovely, soon to be stepmother is looking for something elegant, classy, something that will enhance her already beautiful form without being gaudy. Something that will make my dad's jaw drop when he sees her, but that won't make her look like a cast member from Jersey Shore or one of the Kardashians."

The sales lady looked Kurt over again, and even without the Bitch Glare Stephanie was giving the woman, he could tell she didn't like him. He focused on her thoughts, frowning.

Oh great, another homo who thinks he knows everything. Whatever. Bet I could sell them a knock off Vera Wang for three times the cost of an original.

Stephanie looked at him behind the sales lady's back rolling her eyes. Kurt just smiled at her and winked.

"We'd love to see some Vera Wang, if possible," He said in his most innocent voice. Carole glanced at him. She could tell something was up, but didn't speak. They followed the sales lady into a viewing room, and took seats, while the smirking woman left them to pull some dresses. Once they were alone, Stephanie hurriedly filled the older woman in on what was going on.

Carole was appalled when she heard what the lady had been thinking, and almost decided to go somewhere else, but Kurt assured her he would take care of it. The lady came back with four dresses, and began fawning over Carole, who went along with Kurt's plan and tried on the first dress.

When she came out of the fitting room, the sales lady began gushing over the gown, saying how perfect it was. Kurt smiled and walked around his soon to be step mother. "It is beautiful, but the stitching is all wrong, and there are beads missing on the overlay. And I thought I asked for a Vera Wang? This is an obvious knock off. I'm sure it's an honest mistake. Someone probably just miss hung it from an earlier viewing?"

He smiled so sweetly at the sales girl. She frowned, but nodded. "Sorry, my mistake. Shall we try one of these others?"

Kurt examined the remaining three dresses, frowning. "Hmm, I think someone may be defrauding your store. None of these are Vera Wang Originals. They're all cheap knock offs. You might want to notify the authorities."

The woman was glaring at Kurt openly now. "Listen here you little fag, are you accusing me of something?"

Before Kurt could reply, an older gentleman stepped into the room. "Katriona! How dare you use that kind of language in this store! Please gather your things and leave, your services are no longer required!"

He turned to Kurt and Carole. "I am so sorry! Please, allow me to assist you! I am Georgio Santini."

The older man smiled kindly at them as Kurt described what they were looking for. He considered Carole for a moment, looking her over. "I have the perfect thing. One moment, Please. I shall send Lissette in with some refreshments for you."

They sat down as a pretty red head brought a tray of tea and cookies, with milk for Livy. The older gentleman returned a few minutes later with another dress, and Lissette assisted Carole as she changed gowns. When she stepped out of the dressing room, Kurt smiled, and circled her once more as Stephanie and Livy oohed and awed. "It's perfect! How much is it?"

The man smiled at him. "I shall give it to you for half the price, to make up for Katriona's rudeness. I apologize again, young man."

Carole smiled. "I'll take it!"

…

Kurt was not looking forward to school on Monday. They would be initiating the first part of Teddy's plan, and although Stephanie would be there to make certain Kurt was safe, he still wasn't looking forward to this. He was going to allow Karofsky to push him around, but only when members of the Glee club were around to witness the bullying. Once they saw how much things were escalating, they would be more understanding when Kurt announced that he no longer felt safe at McKinley and was reluctantly transferring to Dalton.

There was one bright spot to the day, when Burt and Carole cornered Kurt and Finn and announced their engagement. Kurt acted properly surprised, while Finn seemed more stunned. Kurt announced that he was planning the perfect Glee wedding for them. Eventually Finn came out of his shock and smiled.

Glee rehearsal was also fun. Mr. Schuester was a little reluctant to agree to performing at the wedding with Sectionals so close, but Rachel piped up and said it would be a good way to loosen them up for performing in front of an audience, as well as for them to try out some songs that could be used in later competitions.

Finally he agreed, and they began talking about song ideas for the ceremony and reception.

…

Kurt met Blaine for coffee on Wednesday, and they talked about the wedding, as well as the bullying. They also talked about the new Marc Jacobs scarf Kurt had purchased the previous Sunday.

By Friday, most of the Glee Club and Mr. Schue had witnessed Kurt being slushied or shoved into lockers, or heard Karofsky or some of the other jocks use homophobic slurs. Mr. Schue (who had only heard the slurs, not witnessed the physical violence) had tried reporting the bullying to Principal Figgins, he was told that the school's hands were tied.

They celebrated Livy's Birthday that evening, with Jeanne Louise and Paul flying in from New York to join them. They smiled and exclaimed how grown up the girl looked in her Big Girl dress.

Stephanie caused a bit of a stir when she asked the couple about the top secret trip they were going on. They reluctantly confirmed that Bastien had convinced Uncle Lucian and the various councils involved to send an international group of immortal and trusted mortal researchers to see if they could find the ruins of Atlantis, and to see if they could find any of the technology the Atlantian scientists had used millennia ago. Lucian and some of the oldest immortals had a vague idea where to find the ancient civilization that was now under water.

"That sounds fascinating! I've always wandered what Atlantis used to look like," Kurt said, smiling. "I wish I could go with you all."

…

On Saturday Kurt was shopping at the Westerville mall with Mercedes, Tina, and the rest of the Glee girls, including Stephanie. They were searching for bridesmaid dresses. The wedding was going to take place Thursday evening (The only time available at the pavilion Kurt wanted, unless they wanted to wait another two months).

As it usually tended to do, talk eventually turned to boys. Both Quinn and Santana rolled their eyes as Rachel went on and on about Finn. Tina also talked a lot about Mike. Kurt noticed Stephanie frowning when Brittany started talking about Artie. He took her hand and murmured so softly that none of the others would hear him.

"Relax, Brittany is so in love with Santana. Santana just isn't ready yet to admit to herself that she loves the girl more than anything else. Artie is just a phase for Brittany. He cares for her, but I know it's not really love on his part."

Stephanie smiled in gratitude at him, although she was still bummed. She was only sixteen, and there were too many obstacles that needed to be cleared before she could claim the boy. She knew she shouldn't begrudge the boy's friendship with this other girl. She had focused on the blonde girl's thoughts, and had been a little confused. The thoughts weren't cohesive, or even linear. The girl's mind was nothing but numbers, cats, and rainbows.

As the other girls continued to talk, Stephanie spotted something in the food court. She grabbed Kurt's hand and pointed to the gelled head of Blaine Anderson.


	6. Cousins, and Other Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plot twist coming up! More Niff! A wedding, and finally, Kurt goes to Dalton!
> 
> BTW, Blood Lust is mentioned in the Argeneau series, in the first few books. It is a fictional computer game. Love Bites is the second book in the series, but it is also the name of a book mentioned in the series that was written by Lucern Argeneau. Single White Vampire is the third book in the series. I know, it's confusing, but the books are awesome!
> 
> PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE With a Cherry on Top, Leave a review? PLEASE! :)

"Hey Blaine, Thad wants to go to the mall and get a new controller for his Xbox, and Nick wants to pre-order Blood Lust IV. You wanna come along?" Jeff asked, poking his head in through the open door of Blaine's dorm room. The curly haired Warbler looked up from the book he was reading.

"Uh, sure, do I have time to finish this last chapter first?"

Jeff turned his head a bit to read the name of the book his friend was reading. "Love Bites?"

Blaine grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, I know, the title is cheesy. They didn't have any good magazines to read at the dentist office last week when I had that appointment, but someone left the first book in this series behind. I was bored so I started reading it and got hooked. It's actually pretty good. Apparently this author, Luc Amerault, is pretty famous. This is book two. Although apparently this one was actually published before the other one."

Jeff shrugged. "Whatever. We're leaving in about twenty minutes. A few others are coming as well."

Ninety minutes later, Thad had his new controller, Nick had ordered his game, and Blaine had bought several more Luc Amerault books. They had met back up at the food court, along with Trent and Jon, who had come along to find some new videos for Friday night movie marathons.

The other boys were teasing Blaine about his book selections. Nick had picked up one of the books, Single White Vampire, and had opened the book to a random page and was reading out loud, using an overly dramatic voice.

"'Wake up,' he hissed.

Chris came awake at once, his eyes blinking open with alarm, 'What? What's happened?' he asked anxiously. 'Is the hotel on fire?'

'No, I need a condom. Do you have one?'

Chris blinked stupidly at him. 'What? A condom?' He started to lift his head; then his gaze hit Lucern's naked body."

"Oh my god!" Jeff exclaimed. "What the hell? Is this some kind of gay romance or something? Soft core porn in written format?"

Blaine blushed, grabbing the book back from Nick as the others all started laughing. "It's not porn, and no it's not gay. At least I don't think so, I haven't read that one yet. The first two were really funny."

Jeff smirked, but movement behind Blaine caught his attention. A group of girls and a single boy were walking towards them. The boy was cute, with auburn hair and remarkable faceted eyes. He kind of looked familiar, though Jeff couldn't figure out why. He glanced over the the girls. There was a dark skinned diva, a petite Asian, a fiery Latina, two blondes, and a short brunette. He looked at the last girl, who was dressed in a goth fashion with dyed black hair pulled up in pigtails, and an elfish face. Jeff did a double take. It couldn't be...

"Stephanie?" He asked standing. The girl looked surprised at hearing her name called. She didn't even seem to have noticed him sitting there.

…

The young immortal girl stopped walking when she heard her name. She had been focused on Blaine, and hadn't noticed the other boys he had been sitting with. She blinked when she saw the tall blonde who had spoken.

"Jeff? Oh my god, what are you doing here?"

Everyone looked at the two as the girl ran over and hugged the Warbler.

"What am I doing here? What the hell are you doing here? You just disappear off the face of the Earth for two years and then show up in a dinky little town in Ohio?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow, and Blaine cleared his throat. The two looked around at their friends. Jeff pulled the girl over to the table. "Guys, this is my cousin Stephanie."

Everyone smiled at her, and the Warblers introduced themselves, Blaine smiled at Kurt, who introduced the New Directions girls.

Nick looked from Blaine to Kurt to Stephanie to Jeff, a look of confusion on his face. "Okay, so this is the spy Kurt from a couple of weeks ago, and he's sort of related to your cousin by marriage?"

Jeff frowned at Kurt. "She was my cousin first!"

Kurt put his hands up in surrender. "Whoa! No need to get your panties in a twist. What can I say, my cousin Decker married Dani. I had no idea they were related to anyone else locally. Stephanie came to stay with me for a few months."

The blonde looked over at the girl. "Why? And where have you been for the last two years? I asked your parents about you, and I just got some vague story about you moving in with Dani, but no one seemed to know where Dani is living now."

The girl looked to Kurt, not sure what to tell them. Kurt smiled reassuringly at her. "Stephanie and Dani were witnesses to a crime. That's how they met Decker, he's a ro... er, police officer in Toronto. They were in protective custody. That's why Stephanie is staying with me. They still haven't caught the suspect."

Jeff looked at her in shock. Stephanie smiled gratefully at Kurt. "Yeah, they sent me down here so I could go to school. I couldn't go to school in Port Henry, which is where I...the safe house I was staying at is. Dani and Decker hit it off right away, and you know Dani, once she sets her mind on something, nothing gets in her way."

Jeff laughed. "Okay, I forgive you for not contacting me. I'm just happy you're safe!"

"Thanks, Jeff. But you can't tell anyone I'm here. Not your parents, or my parents. No one. Okay? The only ones who know I am here are Decker, Dani, Marguerite, Lucien, Jeanne Louise, Paul, Victor, and Elvi. Teddy and Tricia are here to keep an eye on me, too."

"Uh, okay, but I don't know who any of those people are other than Dani."

Kurt smiled at them. "Most of the people she named are relatives of mine. Aunts, Uncles, and cousins, all of them in law enforcement, except Marguerite, who just likes to meddle in people's lives. Teddy is the sheriff of Port Henry, and a soon to be uncle by marriage as well."

"Speaking of marriages," Mercedes interjected, "we still have bridesmaids dresses to find for your dad's wedding, Kurt. But you and Stephanie can stay here and chat if you like. I have the color swatches for the wedding, I'm sure we can manage. I promise not to let Rachel or Santana chose the styles."

Kurt looked torn. He wanted to help pick out the dresses, but he also wanted to spend some time with Blaine. After a moment, he nodded at his best friend. "Just remember they have to be comfortable enough to dance in!"

The other girls bid farewell, and Kurt and Stephanie sat down with the Warblers. Stephanie and Jeff started talking about their families, and the other Warblers had resumed their conversations. Kurt tried not to stare at Blaine as he tried to think of something to say. He glanced at the book Nick had read from earlier.

"Hey! Luc Amerault! Are you a fan?"

Blaine smiled. "Yeah, I just started reading the series. I finished book two earlier. Have you read them?"

Kurt blushed. "My cousin Lucern would be greatly disappointed in me if I hadn't." He saw Blaine's confused look. "Luc Amerault is a pen name. His real name is Lucern Argeneau. Yet another cousin."

"Really? Cool. Must be interesting to have a famous cousin."

The pale immortal laughed. "Actually, he's not the only famous one in the family. Have you heard of Vincent Argeneau?"

"The one who wrote and starred in Dracula, The Musical? I saw him on Broadway last year!"

"He's the reason I want to move to New York and become a Broadway star. Oh, and then there is also my cousin Etienne, creator of the Blood Lust games."

Nick almost choked an the coffee he had just drank. "Your cousin is Etienne Argeneau? I love Blood Lust! I just pre-ordered Blood Lust IV!"

Kurt grinned. "You're going to love it. I'm already on level fifteen."

"Wait, you got an advanced copy? Jeff, I'm sorry, I'm breaking up with you. Kurt is now my boyfriend."

Jeff scoffed. "Fine, but don't you think you should ask him if he wants your sorry ass first?"

"Who cares what he wants? I'm just after him for his Blood Lust IV disc. Once I have it I'll ditch him." There was good natured laughter from everyone at this exchange.

Kurt just smiled at him. "Sorry, I don't swap discs on first dates. If you want it you have to wine and dine me."

They continued to laugh and chat for almost an hour when the other girls returned and showed off the bridesmaids dresses they'd found. They all had lunch together, and then parted ways, Kurt agreeing to meet Blaine for Coffee again on Wednesday.

…

Later that afternoon, Mercedes, Tina, and Rachel were having a conference call. "...and he seemed so happy and comfortable with those Dalton boys. I haven't seen him that happy at McKinley in forever."

"I know, Rach," Mercedes said. "He's been so miserable. I know it kind of sucks with Sectionals just a few weeks away, but I really think we should find some way to get Kurt to transfer. It's not safe for him here anymore."

"Yeah," Tina sighed. "I know I'd miss him like crazy, but he really needs to be somewhere where he can be safe and happy."

"So, we're agreed?" Rachel asked. "We're going to get Kurt to transfer? I know we'd lose his talent, but Stephanie is almost as good as he is, and Puck convinced Lauren Zizes to join, so we don't have to worry about not having enough members."

The other two girls agreed.

"Okay, good. We'll talk to him about it after the wedding."

"Sounds good, 'Cedes. I got to go, Mike is here. Talk to you guys later."

…

'Why do you bother with that?" Stephanie asked, sitting on Kurt's bed as she watched him doing his nightly skin care regime. "The nanos take care of everything for you. Why do you bother doing that every night?"

Kurt smiled at her. "Less work for the nanos, less blood intake required."

She shrugged. She'd been a little quiet since they'd gotten home from the mall. The pale boy finished moisturizing, and moved to sit beside her on the bed.

"So what's bothering you? Is it seeing Jeff today?"

She sighed. "I was so happy to see a part of my family. I haven't seen any of them except Dani for two years. Well, that's not completely true. I snuck out last year and went to see my mom and dad, but I could only spy on them from a distance, I couldn't talk to them. But I got to talk to Jeff, and had to lie to him. I guess I'm just a little depressed because of it."

Kurt took her hands. "First off, technically, I was the one who lied to him first. Second, it's not exactly a lie. You most certainly witnessed a crime, and Leonius is still on the loose. And third, you know you'll be reunited with your family eventually. In the meantime, I'm glad you have Jeff to talk with. And you know you can talk to me anytime too, right?"

She smiled and hugged him. "Thanks, Kurt."

…

The next several days were rough for Kurt. Karofsky's tormenting of him was getting worse. Stephanie was constantly monitoring the jock's thoughts, knowing that the larger boy was becoming more and more agitated, unable to come to terms with his sexuality. She was ready to step in before he could do anything too dangerous.

"I'll be happy when Friday gets here," She told Kurt Wednesday night. "I'm really worried about Karofsky. Once you are safe at Dalton, I think I will influence the boy to talk to a psychologist who specializes in this type of thing."

They were sitting on Kurt's bed again, working on homework. "I've caught a few of his thoughts the last few days myself. You're right, this is really eating him up inside. I don't like him much, but I don't want anything bad to happen to him. In a way I feel sorry for him."

"You are such a sweetie, you know that? No matter how badly you are treated, you always hold your head up. Did you know half the girls at McKinley are in love with you?" They laughed at that.

"It's true, though. Especially the Glee girls. I overheard Quinn and some cheerleader talking about you in the bathroom one day. They both agreed that if you were straight they'd date you."

"Wow, I don't know why they'd want me." Kurt said with a blush.

Stephanie laughed. "Oh my god, Kurt, don't you know how H.O.T. You are? And in another year or two when you lose the last little bit of baby fat (which is still adorable) you'll be even hotter. Not to mention the way you dance! Mercedes showed me some videos of you from last year. I swear all the girls in the room almost swooned when you did Single Ladies!"

Kurt buried his face in his pillow in mortification. The girl laughed at him and pulled the pillow away, hitting him with it. "Anyway, the girls in Glee all love you and care about you, so don't be surprised Friday morning when Mercedes, Tina, and Rachel all accost you and try to convince you that you'll be safer at Dalton."

Kurt sat up and looked at her in shock. "Really? Even Rachel? I thought for sure that her first concern would be me selling out New Directions and giving the Warblers their set list."

"Yes, well, it did cross her mind, but I may have given her a little nudge to convince her that you would never do anything like that. She really is concerned about you, and cares for you enough to want you to be happy. Besides, you're her only real competition for solos in Glee, so..."

They laughed again, and Kurt hugged the younger girl.

…

The wedding went off without a hitch Thursday night. Stephanie had opted not to perform with New Directions, and had sat in the audience with Teddy, Tricia, Livy, and Aunt Marguerite and her lifemate, Julius Notte, who had flown in that morning. They would be leaving after the reception to fly to Italy to take care of some business matters with Julius' family's business.

During the reception, Stephanie sat with Artie, and the two of them laughed and talked and danced most of the evening. Kurt smiled at them, happy that they found each other.

When it came time for Finn to give his Best Man speech, Kurt had been shocked. He thought he might cry when the taller boy pulled him up on stage to dance with him. He'd never been more proud of the boy who was now his stepbrother. And then dancing with his Dad, that had been amazing. He loved the man so much. He smiled at Carole, knowing how happy she made his dad. All in all, it was a perfect evening.

…

Friday morning Karofsky shoved Kurt so hard his head slammed into the edge of his locker. Almost immediately after, Mercedes, Rachel, and Tina were surrounding him, all talking at once. He caught snippets from each of them through the pounding in his head, all of them saying how he wasn't safe here anymore, that he should transfer to Dalton. They fussed over him and helped him to his feet, all still talking.

"Ladies, you're right. Okay? I'll call my dad and have him come pick me up and we'll head up to Dalton today to enroll. I love you all, but you're right, I'm not safe here. I'll miss you all."

He hugged each one of them.

Three hours later, he was sitting in the office at Dalton, his Dad "talking" to the Dean of Admissions. In a remarkably short amount of time, the paperwork was filled out and submitted. Arrangements were made for Kurt to have a private dorm room, near Blaine's.

Oh, and Teddy was given a new job at the school as a self defense instructor, so that he could keep an eye on Kurt and help him out if needed.

On Saturday, Burt, Finn, Teddy, Tricia, Stephanie, and even little Livy helped Kurt move into his dorm room. He was a little disappointed to find that none of the Warblers were present at the time, all of them had apparently gone home for the weekend.

They decided to have dinner together in Westerville before saying their goodbyes. Kurt hugged Livy extra tight. Victor and Elvi would be stopping by later in the week to take the little girl to Walt Disney World before heading back to Toronto with her, where her Dad and Jeanne Louise would take her as the other couple returned to Port Henry.

Kurt stayed in his room the rest of the night, and all day Sunday, decorating and unpacking and getting settled in. A special fridge had been installed in the back of the large walk in closet, and was concealed by a false wall panel that Teddy had installed. His dad had arranged for the Argeneau Blood Bank to discreetly deliver a cooler of blood once a week while Kurt was enrolled here.

The first delivery had arrived Sunday evening, and Kurt quickly unloaded the A.B.B. Cooler into the hidden fridge. He could hear more and more boys returning from their weekend visits. He thought he heard Blaine's voice laughing with Nick and Jeff. He thought about going out and surprising them, but then decided he'd wait until the next morning at breakfast.

He went to bed early, knowing he'd have a long day ahead, trying to win over his lifemate. Just before he drifted off to sleep, he remembered the shared dreams. Blaine was just down the hall. Would he dream of the hazel eyed boy tonight?


	7. Teenage Dreamers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you think, will Kurt and Blaine experience shared lifemate dreams? You'll learn a little more about Teddy this chapter. He's one of my favorite characters from the books. More Niff!

Blaine sat in the Lima Bean, waiting for his new friend to meet him for coffee. They'd formed this habit of meeting at least once a week, usually Wednesdays, but this was Monday. Kurt had called him very early that morning to meet him before school, said he had something important to talk about.

The bell over the door jangled when someone walked in. Blaine smiled when he saw the auburn haired boy, and then he noticed what the boy was wearing. "Kurt! Why are you wearing a Dalton uniform?"

The pale boy smiled. "Well what else would I wear on my first day at Dalton?"

Blaine frowned slightly. "You transferred?"

"Yeah, things were getting pretty bad. Even my friends in Glee said it wasn't safe to stay at McKinley."

"I'm sorry, Kurt. I had really hoped things would work out for you there."

"Hey, it's okay. I'm at Dalton now. I can be closer to you."

The boy leaned in towards Blaine as if he was going to kiss him. "Whoa, what?" Blaine stood up, stepping away from the other boy. "Uh, Kurt, what are you doing? We hardly know each other! We're friends, right?"

Kurt looked confused. "You don't want to kiss me?"

"Uh..." Blaine was really confused now. Yeah, he was attracted to Kurt, but the other boy had always seemed a little aloof. He'd always thought the other boy would want romance, and to be wooed before he'd allow anyone to kiss him.

The cerulean eyed boy was frowning now. "Damn it, this isn't how it's supposed to be. You're supposed to want to kiss me, and then the dream shifts to something more romantic, and then we..."

"Dream?" Blaine said, interrupting the other boy.

"Yeah, I assume this is your dream, after all. If it was my dream it would be more like Moulin Rouge, minus the bloody coughing, of course."

Blaine was even more confused, but before he could ask anymore questions, a loud blaring woke him up.

Blinking, he reached out and slapped the alarm clock, sitting up. What the heck was up with that strange dream?

…

Three doors down, Kurt woke up, growling in frustration. On the one hand, the shared dream proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were lifemates. He just hadn't expected Blaine to be so reluctant to even just kiss him in the dream. Then again, Kurt had no experience whatsoever when it came to seduction.

He was mortified. Sighing, he got out of bed and started getting ready for his first day at Dalton. He just hoped he could act normal when he saw Blaine today. Once he finished dressing, he slipped into the walk in closet, sliding away the false wall panel and retrieving two bags of A positive blood. He fed quickly, then replaced the wall panel, closing the closet door behind him for more protection.

He grabbed his blazer, messenger bag, and class schedule with map, and headed downstairs to breakfast. He hoped that when he saw Blaine, he responded a bit better than he had in the dream.

Once he turned down the hallway towards the dining hall, his extra sensitive ears brought him the sounds of various conversations from the boys already inside. He recognized Jeff and Nick's voice, and he thought he might have heard Wes' voice as well.

"I heard we have a new transfer student coming in today." Nick said. "No one seems to have met him yet."

"I wonder where he is from?" Jeff asked.

"I'm not sure, but the Dean asked me to let him audition for the Warblers." Wes didn't really sound happy. "I'd like to know what kind of pull he has to get special treatment?"

Kurt frowned at that, hoping the other boy wouldn't be too upset with him when he found who the new kid was. And then Kurt heard the voice he had been hoping to hear.

"Well, he only asked you to allow the boy to audition. If he's no good, you don't have to allow him to join. But if he is good, the Dean might be doing us a favor. Especially with George down with Mono." Blaine sounded tired. Kurt wondered if he had been upset by the awkward dream.

Kurt entered the dining hall and got in line to get his food. He didn't want it to seem like he was stalking the hazel eyed boy. He'd pretend he didn't notice the other boy. Let Blaine spot him first. He glanced over his shoulder at the table where his lifemate sat with Nick, Jeff, Wes, David, and a few other boys he didn't recognize, although he thought the one boy with his back to him might have been the Thad he'd met at the mall a couple of weeks ago.

He took his tray and walked in the general direction of the Warblers table, but never looked right at it, pretending to scan the room for an empty seat.

Wes spotted him first. He kept his voice low, but Kurt could hear him just fine. "Hey, isn't that the boy who came here to spy a few weeks ago?"

Blaine's head shot up and looked around. "Kurt!"

Kurt turned at the sound of his name, and smiled when he spotted the other boy. "Blaine! Hi!" He walked over to the table, standing beside the shorter boy.

"What are you doing here, Kurt?" Okay, not the greeting he'd hoped for.

"My dad made me transfer after I got shoved into a locker so hard on Friday that the nurse was afraid I had a concussion."

"Oh my god, Kurt, are you alright?" Nick asked.

"I'm fine, thanks. I just bruised my skull a little." He looked at Blaine. "I was going to text you on Friday, but my phone battery went dead. And then Saturday I was so busy getting all my things moved in. And apparently I left the phone in my Dad's car Saturday night. He's sending it over with Teddy later today."

He smiled over at Jeff. "Stephanie says hi, by the way."

The blonde boy smiled in thanks. There was an awkward moment of silence, while Kurt continued to stand there holding his tray. He frowned slightly, feeling a little embarrassed. Blaine hadn't said a word since he'd asked why Kurt was there. Blushing, he started to turn away. "Uh, I guess I'll go find someplace to sit."

…

Blaine was in a state of shock. First he'd dreamed that Kurt had transferred to Dalton, and now Kurt really was here. Or was this still part of the dream? The boy was looking at him oddly, as if expecting something. And then he was turning away, looking disappointed. "Kurt! Wait, why don't you sit with us?"

The taller boy looked back with a hopeful expression on his face. "Really?"

"Sure, there is an empty seat next to Thad there."

The pale boy seemed disappointed again, but then smiled cheerfully before moving to the opposite end of the table. Jeff introduced him to the boys he hadn't met yet.

Wes smiled at him. "So, Kurt, The Dean said you'd like to audition for the Warblers. Would you have something prepared for this afternoon? We begin practice at four, if you'd like to audition then."

Blaine watched as the pale boy blushed again. "I can have something ready by then. Thanks."

Some of the boys who had met Kurt before drew him into a conversation about video games. Blaine kept looking over at him, watching him eat, seeing him laugh. There was something different about the boy. He couldn't place his finger on it. Maybe he was still feeling awkward from the strange dream.

…

Kurt sighed as he took his seat in his first class of the day, Economics, which Jeff had showed him to. Blaine had barely looked at him at breakfast, and hadn't really talked to him. He'd been really disappointed. When they met for coffee every week, they had always talked comfortably with each other. It had been the same that day at the mall. So why did the darker boy seem uncomfortable with him here at Dalton?

He would have liked to send a text to Stephanie and ask her for advice, but he hadn't been lying when he'd said he left his phone in his dad's car. He'd have to wait till Teddy got here at lunch time. Maybe by then Blaine will be more like himself. Maybe he was just in shock this morning at finding Kurt here. Kurt hoped so.

His morning classes seemed to crawl by. After Economics, he had AP Calculus, followed by AP English Lit and French lvl 5. He was surprised, there were only six students in the class with him, and the others were all seniors. The teacher thought that perhaps there had been some mistake, but when Kurt had assured her, in flawless French, that he had been studying the language since he was six, she smiled at him, welcoming him to the class.

Madame Beaulne was actually a French native, from Avignon. Dalton preferred to have language teachers who actually grew up speaking the language they were to teach. Kurt could appreciate that. He had begun learning French from his Mother, who had lived in Paris off and on for almost three hundred years. After she died, he continued with language tapes and online language courses. He'd also learned Polish from his dad, though he hadn't been as enthralled by it as he had been with French.

After French, he went down to the main hall to meet Teddy. The older immortal was posting a sign up sheet on the bulletin board when Kurt spotted him. "Hey!"

Teddy turned and smiled at him, fishing Kurt's cell phone out of his back pocket. "How's it going, son?"

Kurt sighed in frustration as he took his phone. He looked around before he answered to make sure no one would overhear. "Not good."

Teddy listened as Kurt told him about the shared dream, and the awkward meeting at breakfast. "Well, I know I'm probably not the best person to ask for advice on this. I may look twenty-five, but I'm actually in my late sixties. I don't know much about the dating scene nowadays. All I can think of is maybe you need to get to know the other boy better. Stephanie said the boy had some issues to work out, didn't she?"

Kurt nodded. "Yeah, something to do with why he came to Dalton was all she would tell me. She said I had to work it out for myself."

Teddy gave him a nod as he turned back to the sign up sheet he'd hung up. "It's probably for the best then, son."

Kurt smiled at him. "Thanks. Can I give you a little advice? If you are going to be teaching teenage boys self defense, you might want to update your vocabulary a little. You might look twenty-five, but you still talk like an old man."

Teddy laughed. "That's what Tricia said, too. I guess I need to throw out a few Yo's and Dudes now and then?"

Kurt laughed with him, then put his name on the sign up sheet. They'd made sure the self defense classes wouldn't interfere with Warbler practices or other after school activities. Students could attend during their free periods, or after dinner. "Maybe you should hang out with Finn for a few days. You'd pick up a lot from him. Just don't call me Dude, okay?"

"Deal." They shook hands.

"So, is it true you were mauled by a bear?" Kurt asked. The older man grinned.

"It is. I'll tell you all about it later. Right now you need to get yourself to lunch. I'm still new to this whole immortal business, but I know from being around Stephanie so much that young ones like you need to eat real food, not just blood, to develop properly."

Kurt smiled again. "Okay. See you later!"

He made his way to the dining hall and got his food. He didn't hesitate when Nick and Jeff asked him to join them. He didn't see Blaine anywhere.

The three boys chatted easily. Kurt could tell the two boys were comfortable with each other, not afraid to show some mild PDA. No one else seemed to notice or care. No one made homophobic remarks, or shoved the couple around. "I can't believe it."

They looked at him questioningly. "What's that?" Nick asked.

"You two are sitting there, all lovey dovey, and no one is even batting an eyelash at it. At my old school, if I even looked at another boy outside Glee club, I'd either get a slushy to the face, or someone shouting at me that fags should die."

They looked shocked by his words. "Oh my god, Kurt! That is horrible!" Jeff leaned over and hugged him.

"You won't find anything like that here at Dalton." Nick added. "Sure, there are a few boys here who are uncomfortable around homosexuals, but they all abide by the zero tolerance rules. We've had a few ask us politely to tone it down around them, and we respect that, but no one has ever said anything so horrible to us."

Jeff nodded. "Some of them are even our friends now. They just didn't understand at first, but once they knew that neither of us was interested in them in that way, they got more comfortable around us. And we're not the only gay couple at the school. Les and Daniel, and Kris and Jordan are dating as well. You'll meet Jordan at Warbler practice later. Les is in your French class, and Kris and Daniel will be in your AP History class this afternoon."

Kurt smiled. "What about Blaine? Does he have a boyfriend?" He thought he had sounded casual enough, but he couldn't miss the knowing smirks on the two boys' faces.

"No, Blaine doesn't have a boyfriend. He sort of had one at his old school, but they broke up. He hasn't been interested in dating anyone else since coming here." Jeff said. "At least not until now."

Kurt blushed a little. "He didn't seem happy to see me here this morning."

Nick sighed. "It has nothing to do with you, really. It just hits him kind of hard anytime someone has to come here because they were bullied. It reminds him of what happened at his old school."

"What happened?" Kurt asked, really needing to know so he could work things out with Blaine. The other two boys looked at each other for moment, neither looking like they wanted to answer.

"You'll have to wait for Blaine to tell you. It's not our story to tell, but let's just say it was bad, really bad." Nick said softly.

Before Kurt could ask anything more, his cell phone chirped. He looked at the screen and saw Stephanie's picture. "I need to take this. Thanks for talking to me. I'll see you later."

He hurriedly disposed of his tray and slipped out into the hall.

"Stephanie! Thank Gaga!"

The younger girl laughed. "Rough day?"

"You have no idea!" He told her about the awkward dream, and Blaine's cool reception that morning. "And on top of it all, I need to figure out what to sing for my audition today!"

"Okay, relax. I know you'll do fine at the audition, no matter what you sing. As for the whole Blaine situation, I told you it wouldn't be easy, but don't panic. I know you can get through to him. It will just take some time and patience."

He sighed. "I've never been a very patient person. It's just so frustrating."

She giggled a little. "Poor Kurtie."

"It's not funny."

She just laughed harder. "I'm sorry. But can I make a suggestion? Use the shared dreams as a way to get him to open up to you about what happened in his past. I know your instinct will be to try and seduce him in the dreams, but that might just make him more uncomfortable when he's awake."

Kurt groaned. "Fine. Not that I know anything about seducing anyone anyway."

Stephanie thought for a moment. "Well, you are pretty seductive when you sing and dance."

He was silent as he thought it over. "So, maybe I should sing something a little...suggestive for my audition?"

"Well," she hedged. "Maybe something more emotional. Something that will have him thinking about you, but not in a sexual way."

Kurt smiled. "I've got the perfect idea."

She squealed when he told her. "Oh! I love that song! And it's perfect. But maybe slow it down a bit, make it more you?"

"You're a genius! Thanks again, Steph!"

…

That afternoon he stood before the Warblers, waiting for the music to start. He'd managed to find a slower version of the music on line. He was nervous, but didn't think it showed. Finally the music started, and he began to sing.

Oh yeah I tell you somethin'  
I think you'll understand  
When I say that somethin'  
I want to hold your hand  
I want to hold your hand  
I want to hold your hand

Oh please say to me  
You'll let me be your man  
And please say to me  
You'll let me hold your hand  
Now, let me hold your hand  
I want to hold your hand

And when I touch you  
I feel happy inside  
It's such a feelin' that my love  
I can't hide  
I can't hide  
I can't hide

Yeah, you got that somethin'  
I think you'll understand  
When I say that somethin'  
I want to hold your hand  
I want to hold your hand  
I want to hold your hand

And when I touch you  
I feel happy inside  
It's such a feelin' that my love  
I can't hide  
I can't hide  
I can't hide

Yeah, you got that somethin'  
I think you'll understand  
When I feel that somethin'  
I want to hold your hand  
I want to hold your hand  
I want to hold your hand  
I want to hold your hand

There was a moment of silence when he finished singing, interrupted by someone sniffling. And then they all began to applaud for him. Blaine had a watery smile on his face as Wes banged his gavel for order.

"I'm pretty sure this is just a formality, but all those in favor of allowing Kurt Hummel to join the Warblers, raise your hand?" Every hand in the room went up. "Good. Welcome to the Warblers, Kurt!"


	8. Music Soothes the Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We'll learn a little of Blaine's past in this chapter, and I'll be introducing two more Argeneau Characters, Elvi and Victor. You'll like them, I hope. We'll also have a little bit of Stephanie and Artie.
> 
> For those of you familiar with the Argeneau series, I've made Elizabeth Katricia's sister, which makes her Kurt's aunt

Stephanie was enjoying her time at McKinley. The New Directions had welcomed her with open arms, and she discovered how much she loved singing and dancing. Why hadn't she tried out for the show choir at her school back in Canada?

That thought made her frown. She really shouldn't be thinking of her old life. Even if they caught Leonius, she'd never be able to go back to her old school. She was thankful for this opportunity to feel like a normal teenager, at least for a little while. After talking to Kurt briefly at the beginning of lunch, she ate in silence, not looking at any of the the others sitting at the table.

"What's wrong?" She looked up, startled by the voice, and smiled at Artie.

"Sorry, guess I'm just a little homesick."

He smiled sweetly at her. "Lima must seem boring compared to where you're from. You should call your parents tonight, if you're missing home."

"I wish I could call them, but I can't."

"Why not?"

She glanced around the table. No one else was paying attention to them. "Can we go somewhere to talk? I really don't want anyone else to hear this."

Artie frowned, but nodded. "We can go to the choir room. No one is in there right now."

She agreed, and pushed his chair down the hall. Once they were inside with the doors closed, she sat at the piano while he watched her face. "Can I trust you to keep a secret?"

"Of course, just tell me what's going on."

She sighed. "I can't call my family. None of them know I am here. Two years ago, my sister and I were kidnapped by a serial killer and his sons. My sister managed to escape, but she couldn't save me. I told her to go and get help, and she did. Leonius, the psycho who kidnapped us, and his sons, kept moving me around to make it harder for them to find me. And no, they didn't rape me or anything like that. They did cut me, though, with knives, to keep me scared. After a little more than a week, my sister and her now husband, Decker, managed to rescue me, but the killer and his sons escaped."

The bespectacled boy looked at her in shock. "Oh my god! That's horrible! I'm glad you're safe, though."

"Thanks. I was staying in Port Henry in protective custody with Kurt's Uncle Victor and his wife Elvi, and I love them a lot, but I really miss my old school and my old friends, but mostly I miss my Mom and Dad and my other siblings."

"I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to cheer you up?" He asked, smiling shyly at her.

She smiled back. He really was a sweet guy. She wished he lived closer to Kurt's house. They were apparently far enough apart that they didn't experience the shared dreams. She began playing with the piano keys, randomly playing notes here and there. Then she started playing a song she'd only recently learned to play.

Artie smiled, recognizing the tune. After a moment, he started to sing.

I'm sitting in the railway station.  
Got a ticket to my destination.  
On a tour of one-night stands my suitcase and guitar in hand.  
And every stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one-man band.  
Homeward bound,  
I wish I was,  
Homeward bound,  
Home where my thought's escaping,  
Home where my music's playing,  
Home where my love lies waiting  
Silently for me.

Every day's an endless stream  
Of cigarettes and magazines.  
And each town looks the same to me, the movies and the factories  
And every stranger's face I see reminds me that I long to be,  
Homeward bound,  
I wish I was,  
Homeward bound,  
Home where my thought's escaping,  
Home where my music's playing,  
Home where my love lies waiting  
Silently for me.

Tonight I'll sing my songs again,  
I'll play the game and pretend.  
But all my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity  
Like emptiness in harmony I need someone to comfort me.  
Homeward bound,  
I wish I was,  
Homeward bound,  
Home where my thought's escaping,  
Home where my music's playing,  
Home where my love lies waiting  
Silently for me.  
Silently for me.

She smiled at him as the music faded away. "I love your voice. I wish I could listen to it all the time."

Artie blushed. She leaned in and hugged him. She wanted to kiss him, was seriously considering it, when a noise at the door caught her attention. She pulled back and looked over, surprised.

"Elvi! Victor! What are you doing here? I thought you weren't picking Livy up until Friday?" She rushed over and hugged the older couple.

"We finished up our other business earlier than expected and thought we'd stop by to visit for a few days before we head to Florida." Victor said, hugging her tightly in return. "So, who is this young gentleman?"

"Oh, Artie! This is Kurt's Uncle Victor, and his wife, Elvi. This is Artie Abrams." She stood behind the boy, and looking at the other two immortals, mouthed the words, 'My lifemate.'

They looked surprised, but both of them smiled at the wheelchair bound boy. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Artie!" Elvi gushed. "We're staying with Teddy and Tricia for a few days. You should bring the young man over for dinner one night while we're here. I'll make enchiladas!"

Stephanie smiled and looked at Artie. "Elvi owns a Mexican restaurant in Port Henry, as well as a B&B. She's an amazing cook. Between her and Harper, it's a wonder I haven't gained a hundred pounds."

"It's settled then, You'll come to dinner Wednesday night. I'll invite Burt and his new li- er, wife, and Kurt."

"And Finn, too, don't forget. Kurt's new stepbrother." Stephanie reminded them.

"Of course! The more the merrier!" Elvi beamed.

…

Kurt sighed in relief as Teddy called an end to the class for the evening. He hadn't expected so many boys to show up on a Monday evening. He was happy to see Blaine had joined the class too. They still hadn't really talked since breakfast. He half thought the other boy might have been avoiding him.

That theory was dispelled when the dark haired boy had joined him, Jeff, Nick, Wes, and a few other Warblers for dinner. They talked, but only general conversation, nothing like Kurt was used to with the other boy.

As the other boys filed out, Teddy stopped Blaine. "You've taken self defense before, haven't you?"

Blaine smiled. "A little here and there over the last year and a half, but mostly just boxing."

"I could tell. You picked things up quickly. Keep up the good work. See you tomorrow night." Teddy shook hands with Blaine, then left, leaving him alone with Kurt, who had taken his time gathering up his water bottle and bag. He'd known that Teddy had slowed the other boy down so that the two of them could talk.

He smiled at the shorter boy. "Hey."

Blaine smiled shyly. "Hi."

Kurt frowned. "Um, have I done something or said something to make you upset with me?"

"What?" Blaine said, confused.

Kurt shrugged. "It just seems like you've been avoiding me since I saw you this morning. I thought we were friends."

"Oh! No, Kurt! I'm sorry if I've made you feel unwelcome. It's just, well, uh..."

"Hey, it's okay, you know you can talk to me. That's what friends are for isn't it?" Kurt touched his shoulder.

Blaine sighed, and they began to walk slowly back towards the dorms. "I'm really sorry, Kurt. It's just, hearing about how you were bullied at your school just reminded me of why I ended up here. I missed so much of my Freshman year in public school, I had to retake the entire year. That's why I'm still only a sophomore."

"Why did you miss so much school?" Kurt asked.

Blaine took a deep breath. "I was in the hospital for two months, and then was house bound and on so many different meds for another three months. I don't even remember Christmas that year."

"Oh my god, Blaine! What happened?" The other boy stopped walking, and started breathing erratically. "Blaine? It's okay, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I'm sorry. We can talk about something else if you want. Just take a deep breath for me, okay?"

The hazel eyed boy leaned against the wall and drew in several deep breaths. When he could talk again, he smiled weakly at Kurt. "I'm sorry, I still get panic attacks sometimes, and nightmares."

"I'm so sorry, Blaine. I just wish you had told me before. I mean I sat there and told you all about my troubles at McKinley, and the whole time you went through something so much worse! I must have sounded whiny and pathetic to you!"

Blaine grabbed his shoulders and stopped him. "No, Kurt! Never! You're anything but pathetic! You're strong and courageous! You got out before they could hurt you any worse!"

Kurt smiled at him. "You're strong and courageous too, Blaine. Whatever happened, you survived it, and you're here now, too. Promise that when you can, you'll tell me what happened?"

The other boy nodded slowly, taking a few more deep breaths. "I'm sorry, Kurt. I really didn't mean to brush you off or anything. Oh, and the song you sang earlier? It was amazing! You have a beautiful voice."

Kurt smiled. "Thanks, it's one of my favorite songs." The fact that his parents had been John Lennon and Paul McCartney's inspiration for the song probably had something to do with that, but of course he couldn't tell Blaine that just yet.

They continued walking towards their dorms, talking about music, and what songs the Warblers had been considering for Sectionals. They reached Blaine's dorm first. "Well, I have a three page essay to write for English lit, and calculus homework. Maybe we could meet for coffee before breakfast?"

"I'd like that. Good night, Blaine. Sweet dreams."

Blaine smiled. "Sweet dreams, Kurt."

…

Blaine hated this dream. It was always the same. First the beating, then the squeal of tires, the taunting laughter, and then the rasping of the respirator that forced air into his collapsed lung. He couldn't move, he was strapped to the bed, and inside his mind he was screaming. But something was different this time.

He turned his head to the side, focusing his eyes on the chair beside the bed. Kurt was sitting in it, looking around in confusion. "Oh my god, Blaine, you weren't kidding, were you? This is really bad. We're you in a medically induced coma?"

"Yeah," Blaine answered, suddenly realizing the breathing tube was gone, though he was still strapped to the bed. "For the first month I was in the hospital. The doctor said I was lucky I didn't have permanent brain damage."

Kurt reached out and took his hand. "Can you tell me how badly you were hurt? You don't have to tell me how it happened if you aren't ready."

Blaine swallowed thickly, his throat feeling dry and sore. "The worst was the skull fracture and swelling of the brain. I also had three broken ribs, a broken collarbone, two broken legs, one of them a compound fracture, and two broken fingers. I had my spleen removed, and my appendix. There was damage to one of my kidneys, but it was minor enough that over time it healed on its own."

Kurt went even paler than usual. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea."

"How could you have? Besides, you were right, I survived. Physically, anyway. Emotionally, well, someday I'll get there."

Kurt squeezed his hand. "You are so brave, you know that?" He raised the hand he was holding to his lips and kissed it gently.

Blaine smiled. "I usually hate this dream, but it's not so bad when you're here."

Kurt reached out his other hand and stroked the shorter boy's hair. "Just rest now, okay? I'll sing you back to sleep."

Blaine closed his eyes, relaxing back as Kurt began to sing.

Once, there was a way to get back homeward  
Once, there was a way to get back home  
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry  
And I will sing a lullaby

Golden slumbers fill your eyes  
Smiles awake you when you rise  
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry  
And I will sing a lullaby

Once, there was a way to get back homeward  
Once, there was a way to get back home  
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry  
And I will sing a lullaby

…

Blaine woke the next morning with a smile on his face, feeling much more relaxed than he had felt in a long while. He recalled the dream he'd had. It had started out the way it always had in the past, with the nightmare of that night. But then Kurt was there, and suddenly it hadn't been so bad.

He got out of bed and got ready for the day. As he walked down to meet Kurt at the coffee shop, he began humming.

…

Kurt looked up when he heard Blaine humming as he entered the coffee shop. He smiled as he recognized the tune. The shorter boy joined him in line just as the barista finished ringing up the teacher in front of them.

"You seem to be feeling much better today," Kurt observed after they'd placed their orders.

"I do feel better. I slept better last night than I have in a long time."

Kurt grinned. "Good. I'm glad. What was that song you were humming?"

Blaine blushed. "Uh, I think it's called Golden Slumbers. Not sure why, but I have it stuck in my head this morning."

They took their coffees, then headed to the dining hall for breakfast. They sat with several other members of the Warblers. They were a fun group, when they weren't under Wes' gavel in Warbler practice. They teased and joked good naturedly, pulling pranks on each other, and generally being a rowdy group of teenage boys, but they seemed to care for each other, much like New Directions.

As they were finishing their breakfast, Kurt's cell phone rang. He frowned in confusion when he saw the caller ID.

"Uncle Victor?" But it wasn't his uncle's voice that answered.

"Hello, Kurt? This is actually Elvi!"

"Elvi, hi! Is something wrong?" He still hadn't met his uncle's new lifemate, and had never actually spoken to her before.

"Oh, no, no. Victor and I are here in Lima, we finished up the business we had early." Kurt knew that meant that the rogue Victor had been chasing had been taken care of. "Anyway, we're going to be here for several days. We were originally going to leave Friday night, but I've convinced Victor to stay a couple extra days, and I'm planning a big get together Friday night. Well, originally I was going to have it tomorrow night, but Finn said he had football practice, so I decided to move it to Friday, and I thought since your dad has that nice big back yard, I'd invite Finn's friends from that singing group, too. And since he's inviting all of them, I thought you could invite your choir, too. So, can you make it Friday night?"

Kurt had listened to the older immortal's rambling in a daze. "Uh, I can ask, I suppose."

"Okay, sweetie, just let me know how many are coming by this afternoon so I can plan the menu tonight and make a shopping list for tomorrow."

"Okay, Elvi. Thanks." When the call ended, he looked at his phone with a furrow between his eyes.

Blaine looked at him, eyebrow raised in question. Kurt shrugged. "My uncle and his new wife are in town for a few days. I still haven't actually met her yet, but she's invited all the Warbler's to my Dad's house for dinner on Friday. The New Directions will be there, too."

"Wow," Jeff said, having overheard the conversation. "Is this the Victor and Elvi Stephanie mentioned?"

Kurt nodded. "She'll be there too. I know the two of you haven't had much time to spend together since that day at the mall. I'm sure she'd like to see you again."

Jeff smiled and nodded. The warblers who were present all said they'd check in with their parents and let him know before practice that afternoon if they could make it.

"So, just how big is your extended family?" Blaine asked as he walked Kurt to his first class.

Kurt laughed. "Well, from my Dad's side, it's just him and me. But on my Mom's side, it would take me all day to list the extended family, but in her immediate family, both of her parents are still alive, as are all twenty two of her siblings. Yes, she has a huge family. She also has several uncles and an aunt that are still alive. Actually, most of the aunts and uncles I mentioned already are my great aunts and uncles, but that gets confusing so we just say aunt and uncle. And then there are all the cousins, dozens of them. Someday maybe I'll show you the Argeneau family tree."

Blaine chuckled. "I can't wait. Anyway, I gotta get to class. See you at Lunch."

Kurt waved goodbye and entered his class.


	9. Gatherings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I really hope people are liking this story. More Argeneau backstory, more Livy and Stephanie, but mostly the Warblers. Oh, and lots of Mexican food!
> 
> In the books, Elvi hasn't yet gotten pregnant, but it is something I am hoping happens soon.

Over the next couple of nights, Kurt continued to slip into Blaine's dreams. The dreams were fairly ordinary; there was a dream where Blaine was sitting in history class, taking an exam, and the clock refused to move. Kurt distracted him by telling him funny historical facts. Blaine had been laughing so hard in the dream it woke him up. There was another dream where Blaine had been playing piano on stage at Carnegie Hall. Kurt was the only one there. He climbed up to sit on the baby grand and started singing along.

The days were nice as well. They met for coffee every morning, and ate together for every meal, along with most of the other Warblers. Thursday evening at dinner, the boys were blowing off some steam, teasing and joking, when Trent started humming a song, and then Jon began to beat boxing to it. Thad and David started to sing along.

Hey, oh, Hey Oh!

Where they at, where they at,  
Where they at, where they at,  
Where they at, where they at,  
Where they at, come on now

If you wanna go and take a ride wit me  
We three-wheelin' in the fo' with the gold D's  
Oh why do I live this way?  
(Hey) Must be the money!

The other boys laughed and joined in.

In the club on the late night, feelin' right  
Lookin' tryin' to spot somethin' real nice  
Lookin' for a little shorty hot and horny  
So that I can take home (I can take home)

She can be 18 (18) wit an attitude  
Or 19 kinda snotty actin' real rude  
But as long as you a thicky thicky thick  
Girl you know that it's on (Know that it's on)

I peep something comin' towards me up the dance floor  
Sexy and real slow (hey)  
Sayin' she was peepin' and I dig the last video  
So when Nelly, can we go; how could I tell her no?  
Her measurements were 36-25-34

I like the way you brush your hair  
And I like those stylish clothes you wear  
I like the way the light hit the ice and glare  
And I can see you moving way over there

Applause went up all around the dining hall, and calls for more. They did a couple more songs, when Trent suggested Kurt should sing something. He tried to demure, saying he didn't know what to sing, but they wouldn't hear it. Blaine leaned forward and whispered something in his ear. The pale boy smiled and nodded.

He stood up, taking a shaky breath, and began singing.

When I find myself in times of trouble  
Mother Mary comes to me  
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

And in my hour of darkness  
She is standing right in front of me  
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

Blaine joined him on the chorus.

Let it be, let it be  
Let it be, let it be  
(Whisper words of wisdom, let it be)

And when the broken hearted people  
Living in the world agree  
(There will be an answer, let it be)

For though they may be parted  
There is still a chance that they will see  
(There will be an answer, let it be, hee!)

The rest of the warblers joined in on harmonies.

Let it be, let it be  
Let it be, yeah, let it be  
There will be an answer  
Let it be  
Let it be, let it be  
Let it be, yeah, let it be  
Whisper words of wisdom  
Let it be, hee!

And when the night is cloudy  
There is still a light that shines on me  
Shine until tomorrow  
Let it be

I wake up to the sound of music,  
Mother Mary comes to me  
(Speaking words of wisdom, let it be, hee!)

Let it be (Let it be)  
Let it be, yeah, let it be  
Oh, there will be an answer  
Let it be

Let it be (Let it be)  
Let it be (Yeah, let it be)

There will be an answer  
Let it be, hee

Let it be, let it be

Let it be, yeah, let it be

Whisper words of wisdom  
Let it be, hee!

The dining hall once again broke into cheers, and several boys patted him on the back. Wes was frowning, however.

"What's wrong?" David asked.

The friendly Asian boy sighed. "I was just thinking that there isn't enough time between now and Sectionals to rehearse a new number, and it's a shame, because I think we'd have a better chance of winning if Kurt had a solo or a duet."

"Well then," Blaine chimed in, "We'll just have to win at Sectionals so Kurt can sing at Regionals!"

Kurt blushed as the other Warblers laughed and hugged him.

…

That night, Blaine had a nightmare. When Kurt slipped into his dream, he found the shorter boy running through the darkened halls of an unfamiliar school, tears streaming down his face, along with blood from a gash on his forehead. The pale boy could hear people shouting taunts and threats. The dark haired boy was so terrified, he didn't even notice Kurt's presence.

Kurt knew he could just wait and observe and see if he could learn more about Blaine's past, but he could feel the other boy's terror. He decided to take control of the dream. He concentrated, forming an image in his mind. The choir room at McKinley gradually formed around him. A picnic was spread out on the floor. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, brightening the scene drastically.

Kurt stood in the door way, calling out to Blaine with a smile on his face. "Blaine! Come on, I've got a surprise for you!"

…

Blaine blinked, momentarily blinded by the brightly lit corridor. And then he heard Kurt's voice calling out to him. He glanced down the unfamiliar hallway. Where was he? This wasn't Westerville high. Their colors had been green and black. These halls were decorated in maroon and white.

"Come on, Blaine! Slow poke!" Kurt teased with a laugh that reminded Blaine of wind chimes tinkling.

He began walking towards the pale skinned boy, smiling in confusion. "Where are we?"

"Some place safe. At least I've always felt safe here. Come on, I have a surprise for you!" The countertenor took his hand and pulled him into the choir room, and with a grand gesture, indicated the picnic. "Come on, have a seat."

Blaine smiled and sat down. He didn't know how he'd ended up here, but it was much better than the nightmare he had been having. It seemed that ever since the other boy had appeared at Dalton, his dreams had taken a turn for the better. Each time he'd started to have one of his nightmares, the delicate looking boy had appeared and turned them into something less frightening.

Dream Kurt poured him some sparkling apple cider in a Champagne flute. He accepted it with gratitude. "How did we get here?"

Kurt smiled. "I invited you, remember?"

Had he? It made sense. "Where exactly are we?"

"My old choir room at McKinley. As bad as I was treated out in those hallways, this room was always a refuge. Mr. Schue and the rest of New Directions made sure of that. Granted, my time with New Directions wasn't always perfect. We had our disagreements, our bickering, more dating drama than a daytime soap opera, and the occasional back stabbing, but it was always us against them. We could shred each other, but no one outside this room was allowed to."

Blaine laughed at that, nibbling on some cheese and water crackers. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments as they ate. "Are you ready to talk to me about what happened to you yet?"

Blaine sighed, but didn't feel a panic attack coming on this time. He knew Kurt wouldn't be upset at him. Besides, it was just a dream. He'd rather tell the real Kurt when he was ready. "I think I'm getting there, but not yet."

Dream Kurt just nodded and poured him more sparkling apple cider.

…

Friday night, there were over thirty people in the Hummel's backyard, most of them under the age of eighteen, two of them over two thousand years old. It was a pleasantly warm evening for mid November, and there were two fire pots burning to make certain everyone was comfortable.

Elvi had been cooking for three days straight. The two picnic tables were laden with enchiladas, chimichangas, a spicy rice dish, sopapillas, guacamole, chips, homemade tortillas, salads, and a layered polenta and seafood dish that everyone (except Rachel and David, the two vegans,) raved about.

Despite their competitive natures, the Warblers and the New Directions were all enjoying themselves, intermingling, laughing, singing, and dancing. Little Livy had flitted from group to group, dancing and twirling in one of the new dresses Kurt had bought her, and telling everyone about her upcoming trip to Walt Disney World. Everyone adored her, and Blaine earned himself a fan for life when he pretended to be Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid, and danced her around while the other Warbler's sang Kiss the Girl.

Kurt watched with a sappy smile on his face. Elvi chose that moment to bring out another platter of food. Setting it down, she stood next to Kurt, watching everyone enjoying themselves. "He seems like a fine boy. I don't know why people have to try and destroy what they don't understand."

Kurt sighed. "I suppose you aren't going to tell me what It is you read in him that I'm suppose to know and help him with before he'll even consider being my lifemate?"

Elvi smiled and patted him on the arm. "He's getting there, Kurt. Just be patient." She sighed and smiled as several of the Warblers along with Finn and Puck raided the food tables again. "I forgot how much teenagers eat. I remember when my daughter, Casey, used to bring her friends home after school and they would raid the fridge, almost eating me out of house and home."

Kurt couldn't help noticing the wistful look in her eyes. He knew that Elvi's first husband and only child had died in a car accident that resulted when the husband had had a heart attack behind the wheel.

"Are you and Uncle Victor planning on having kids soon?"

The tiny woman beside him smiled, and he suddenly noticed how she seemed to glow in the light from the fading sun. He laughed knowingly, and hugged her. "Congratulations!"

"Don't say anything, please. I haven't told Victor yet. He's so worried about the whole not being able to survive on bagged blood issue."

"I'm sure Bastien will find a solution to that soon."

She just smiled at him, kissed his cheek, and went to get more food. As she walked away, Finn and Puck walked towards him.

"Dude, I thought you said she was your great aunt," Puck said, staring after the older woman. "She's totally hot!"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "First off, she's older than she looks," like in her late sixties, but he couldn't tell them that."And second, don't let my Uncle Victor hear you talk about her like that. He's likely to show you his katana, and you'd be lucky he didn't use it on you."

Finn looked confused. "I thought you said your uncle was a cop?"

"Something like that," Kurt mumbled.

…

Stephanie was laughing with Artie, Mercedes, and Sam. The blonde boy was doing impressions of various famous people. She'd danced with Jeff earlier, and had sang with the New Directions girls. She hadn't had this much fun since the family reunion that she and Dani had been driving back from when Leonius had taken them.

She spotted Elvi and Victor talking on the other side of the yard. She smiled and waved when they looked her way. She loved them both, but she'd really needed this time with kids her own age.

She smiled at the boy beside her as Artie reached out and took her hand. She'd told him more about what had happened to her when she'd been held captive, avoiding the details of being used as a walking blood bag. He'd been great. He didn't treat her with kid gloves like some people might have. He'd reminded her that she was strong, a survivor. She would have loved him for that alone. She really wished she could turn him now, give him back the use of his legs.

She wondered if she should tell him about immortals and lifemates? She was still only sixteen years old. She knew she wasn't ready for any kind of physical relationship, but she didn't want to lie to him about who and what she really was, either. And he had the right to know about the nanos, and how they could help him walk again someday.

She squeezed his hand and excused herself. She wanted to talk to her foster parents, needed their advice.

…

Artie watched the girl walk over towards her foster parents, smiling. He really liked her, and was glad she had confided in him about what she had gone through. He'd never met anyone so brave.

Mercedes nudged his shoulder. "She's sweet, and I think she really likes you, too."

He just sighed. "She's so far out of my league. What could she possibly see in me? She probably just thinks of me as someone she feels safe with because she knows I wouldn't be able to hurt her."

Kurt walked over at that moment. "Hey Artie, can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

"Uh, sure, Kurt. What's up?"

"Come on in the house." He helped maneuver the wheelchair inside, to the kitchen, where Elvi and Stephanie were sitting. Victor leaned casually against the doorway to the living room, while Tricia and Teddy stayed outside on the patio.

Artie glanced around, feeling a little nervous. "Um, why do I get the feeling I'm about to be interrogated?"

Kurt laughed and sat beside him. "Relax, it's okay. Stephanie told us she told you about Leonius, and I'm glad, but there is much more to the story you need to know. We just want to make sure you keep an open mind, okay?"

Artie glanced at Stephanie, still feeling nervous, wondering what else had happened to her. The things she had told him had been horrific, and though he hadn't seen any physical scars, he knew some scars couldn't be seen. "You know you can tell me anything."

She smiled at him, as Kurt continued to speak. "Okay, you and I have known each other for a few years now, right? We're friends, and you know I'd never put you in any harm?"

Artie was confused as to where this was going, but just nodded. Kurt smiled sympathetically at him."Good. Now I'm going to show you something, and I don't want you to freak out."

"Alright?" It came out more of a question than an agreement, but the pale boy had his attention, his curiosity piqued. For a moment nothing happened, Kurt just sat there with his eyes closed. And then the older boy opened his mouth. At first he didn't notice anything, but then a pair of fangs seemed to slide down out of his upper gums.

It took him a minute to process what he was seeing. "Holy sh..."

"Please don't freak out," his friend said around the fangs.

Artie shook his head. "No, no. Not freaking out. Confused as hell, but not freaking out."

The other boy smiled at him, the fangs slipping back into his gums. "Good. I know you're all into science and sci-fi and all that, so what I am about to tell you should make plenty of sense to you."

Artie nodded in understanding. Kurt continued. "Okay, so you've heard of Atlantis, I presume?"

He nodded again. "The mythological civilization that supposedly was far more advanced than even modern convention that was either destroyed by a volcano, or sank into the sea due to an Earthquake, depending on which theory you follow?"

Victor cleared his throat. "It was a combination of volcanic eruption and an Earthquake that caused a tidal wave."

Artie just accepted this statement, willing to take their word for it. Stephanie took his hand, and Kurt smiled at him and continued.

"Yes, except it's not a myth. Atlantis did exist, and they were far more advanced than you can actually believe. One of their scientists developed nanos to use along with bio-engineering to heal diseases and injuries. The nanos used blood to travel through the body, as well as to make repairs, and when needed, create more nanos. They also used blood as fuel. They were programmed to repair the body, return it to peak condition, then shut down and be flushed from the body."

Artie frowned. "Hold up, the body is always needing repairs, from germs and toxins and day to day wear." They all smiled at him as if he'd said something brilliant.

"Exactly," Kurt continued. "Those, plus sunlight damaging skin, and aging, and a million other little things everyday. So the nanos never shut down. They just kept regenerating their hosts, keeping them at peak health."

Artie thought it through. "So basically you are telling me that you are some kind of scientifically created vampire?"

"We prefer the term immortal," Victor smiled at him. "But essentially, yes. But there is more to the story."

Stephanie spoke for the first time since he'd entered the kitchen. "At first the scientists didn't realize their mistake. They were too concerned with what happened with the first batch of nanos. There were six patients who the first nanos were tested on. Of the six, two of them died, two went insane, and the last two were seemingly cured. They thought they knew what had gone wrong, and so they made some changes to the next batch of nanos."

Victor took up the explanation from there. "The second batch of nanos was administered to twelve patients, including my parents."

Artie blinked in surprise at that. He recalled reading that the fall of Atlantis occurred sometime around 9000 BC. He looked at the older male. "How old are you?"

The handsome man looked to be around twenty-five, though he knew the man was Kurt's Mother's Uncle, which should have made him older than Burt, who looked around forty or forty-five. The older male smiled. "I'm almost five thousand years old."

"Five thou..." His head was reeling. He looked at the others in the room. Elvie smiled at him.

"I'll be seventy on my next birthday."

Artie looked at Kurt. "I'm only sixteen, and so is Stephanie. I was born immortal. My mother was over six hundred when she met my dad. He was forty-five when she turned him. He's a little over a hundred now."

He focused on Stephanie. She had tears in her eyes. "I was born mortal. Leonius was a rogue immortal, one who was born with the first batch of nanos, the faulty ones. It wasn't until after the fall of Atlantis that the full ramifications were discovered."

Kurt picked the story up again. "Once the scientists realized that the nanos weren't shutting down, and that they used up blood faster than the human body could manufacture it, they began giving those affected blood transfusions daily.

But after the fall, the only ones who survived were those with the nanos inside them. But when they emerged into the world on the other side of the mountain range that had sheltered them, they discovered a very primitive world."

Victor spoke up again. "The rest of the world was still in the hunter/gatherers stage of evolution. There were no blood banks, no way to perform blood transfusions. Many of those who had escaped Atlantis died in the first year, literally eaten alive by the nanos who were supposed to keep them healthy."

Artie shivered at this news. Kurt spoke again. "The nanos seemed to realize the only way they could survive was to adapt their hosts, turn them into predators. The survivors developed excellent night vision so that they could remain hidden from the sun's damaging rays during the day, and hunt at night. They developed the ability to control mortal minds to keep them calm and make them forget. They developed superior speed, hearing, smell."

"And Fangs," Artie guessed. "Fangs to pierce flesh to reach veins?"

Kurt nodded. "For the most part, you are correct. Those who received the second batch of nanos developed fangs. Those four that had survived the first batch did not. The two who had gone insane, who had been kept away from society in Atlantis but had escaped during the fall, they attacked mortals, hurting them and often killing them. The two who had remained sane, they were more careful, calming their prey, and only taking small amounts from each."

Stephanie cleared her throat. "They call the sane ones endentates, while the insane ones are called no-fangers. Leonius was no-fanger. He's the one who turned me, and that is why I don't have fangs, I'm endentate. That's why Kurt showed you his, though he didn't have to. We could have found another way to convince you, and he could have kept his secret."

Artie glanced between them. "If you guys can control my mind, you could just erase that part."

Kurt smiled. "We could, but we won't. Because there is something else we need to explain to you."

Elvi smiled. "Immortals mate for life. Once they find their lifemate, there is no one else for them until one or the other dies. Lifemates are very special, and there are certain signs that immortals know to look for when they find their lifemates."

"For older immortals," Victor said, "the most notable sign is a return of appetite. After a hundred years or so, food loses its flavor, and immortals usually stop bothering to eat. But finding a lifemate tends to re-awake the senses, and food tastes new again."

"For younger immortals who still eat, like Stephanie and myself, there are other signs that are a little harder to notice at first, but the most important one is not being able to read or control the other person's mind."

Stephanie smiled shyly at the boy in the wheelchair. "I can't read you, Artie, and for me, that is rare, and something of a true blessing. Because unlike other immortals, I can't block out everyone else's thoughts. Even the oldest immortals, who are usually able to guard their thoughts from any immortal younger than themselves."

Artie looked at her in surprise. "That must be awful! How do you manage not going insa..." He stopped, suddenly understanding. "You're afraid you might go insane like the no-fangers, aren't you?"

She nodded solemnly. "Lucien and Bastien and everyone are trying to find ways to help me. That is one reason I came here, to try and desensitize myself to the constant bombardment. And it has helped to an extent. I can block out some of the noise now, and if I am in a small group, I can block out enough to pick out individual thoughts, which may seem like an intrusion, which is why I try to focus on those people whose thoughts wouldn't be too personal."

Kurt laughed, "You may notice that she sticks close to Brittany when things get too much for her to bare."

Artie smiled at that, and she squeezed his hand again, before talking again. "There are other signs, too, and while I haven't experienced those yet, I am fairly positive you are my lifemate, Artie."

"What?"

"Well, Stephanie can't read or control you, but I can read your mind clearly right now, and I must say I'm impressed at how PG13 they are." Kurt smirked.

"But..." Artie began, and then paused, trying to clear his thoughts. "Okay, but what exactly does this mean?"

"Well," Elvi began, "Stephanie is still too young for any kind of serious relationship right now, and so are you. But when you both are older, Stephanie will want to give you the nanos, to turn you, with your permission, of course."

"You want me to become immortal?" He asked, for clarification.

Stephanie nodded. "But there are a couple of things you should understand first. Because of the risk to your mental health, I wouldn't be the one to share my nanos with you, someone else will have to give you theirs."

Artie just nodded and waited for the other shoe to drop. Kurt cleared his throat to get his attention. "The nanos keep the body at peak condition. They remove all diseases. And they repair all injuries."

It took a moment for that to filter through his mind. Repair all injuries. "I'd be able to walk again?"

"Yes." Stephanie's voice was soft when she said this. He studied her face. She was scared. He didn't understand why, but then the implications hit him.

"You're afraid that now that I know, I'll only be able to think about the fact that one day I might be able to get out of this chair."

She nodded again, looking miserable. He didn't like seeing her like that. He thought about it for a few minutes. "So, remove that memory from me. Just that part about the nanos repairing my legs, at least until we're both ready for this. Let me keep the rest of the knowledge, though. I want to remember the real you."

She smiled radiantly, and he knew he had done the right thing.

…

Later that night, Kurt and Stephanie stood in the driveway, saying their goodbyes to their friends. Once they were alone, Stephanie hugged the taller boy tightly. "Thank you."

"For what?" He asked.

"I came here to help you get your lifemate, but instead you helped me get mine."

Kurt smiled. "I'm so happy for you, and I'm glad Artie was so happy too."

As they walked inside, Kurt's smile faded only a little. He'd had fun with Blaine tonight, but still felt he was no closer to claiming his lifemate than before.


	10. Stumbling Blocks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mostly Klaine and Niff this chapter, with some Stephanie at the end.

Blaine jolted awake as the nightmare receded Sunday morning. For the second night in a row, Kurt hadn't appeared in his dreams, and he'd had to face his demons alone. This time he'd dreamed about his dad, how he'd been disappointed in Blaine for not fighting back that night. And he'd dreamed about Trace. He hadn't dreamed about Trace in months. At least he didn't dream about the other one, he couldn't deal with that triple threat right now.

He wiped tears from his eyes as he sat up. He really wished Kurt had been there in his dream last night. He wouldn't be such an emotional wreck this morning. Why hadn't the pale boy appeared? Of course, Blaine didn't understand why the boy had begun appearing in his dreams to begin with, but he'd been glad for his presence there. So why hadn't dream Kurt been there last night? Or the night before?

He didn't even have the real Kurt to look forward to this morning. The pale boy had stayed at his Dad's house for the weekend, and wouldn't return until that evening. He admitted to himself that he actually missed the other boy. They'd become much closer friends over the past week since Kurt had come to Dalton.

He refused to acknowledge the fact that he was coming to care for the other boy as more than a friend. He didn't want to make the same mistake with Kurt that he had with Him. Kurt is different, a voice whispered in the back of his mind, but he chose to ignore it.

He showered and dressed and went downstairs to breakfast. There weren't many boys in the dining hall. Most of them had gone home for the weekend, but Nick and Jeff were sitting by the windows. They smiled and waved him over. He sat across from them, and tried to smile. Nick noticed the forced attempt, and called him out on it.

"What's wrong, Blaine?"

The shorter boy sighed and shrugged. "I dreamed about Trace again."

"I'm sorry, bro. Is there anything we can do to get your mind off of it?" Jeff asked.

Blaine didn't answer, just picked at his cheese omelet. The other two exchanged a look, and Nick nodded. "Okay, eat up quickly. Harry Potter movie marathon in our dorm in thirty minutes."

Blaine gave a weak smile at this announcement. Jeff gave a mock salute. "I'll get the snacks and drinks, and see if Trent wants to join us."

In all, there were nine other boys in Nick and Jeff's double dorm besides Blaine and the couple; Trent and some of their non-Warbler friends who were bored and didn't feel like finishing their weekend homework just yet.

They were halfway through The Order of the Phoenix when Blaine's phone signaled an incoming text.

I'm back. Want Coffee? I can bring it to your room. -K

He smiled, and texted back.

Would love some coffee, but I'm in Nick's dorm watching HP and Order of Phoenix with a dozen other boys. -B

He hit send, suddenly feeling like himself for the first time that day. First time since Friday night, actually. His phone chimed again, and he grinned.

"Kurt wants to know who wants what from the coffee shop downstairs. His treat." He texted back their orders, and told Kurt he'd come down and help him carry it up. He needed to stretch his legs anyway.

As he was leaving Nick's dorm, he noticed someone coming out of Kurt's dorm, carry an ice chest that had A.B.B. stamped on the side. The man was wearing some kind of uniform that had the same initials on a patch on the left sleeve. He looked like some kind of delivery person, but why had he been in Kurt's room if Kurt was downstairs?

Frowning, he caught up with the older man, pasting on a polite smile, not wanting to outright accuse someone of wrong doing without cause. "Excuse me? Can I help you?"

The other gentleman, a tall blonde with ice blue eyes that appeared to be in his early to mid twenties looked over at Blaine. Blaine felt a shifting in his mind, and then a pleasant fogginess slipped into his thoughts. What had he been doing? Why was he just standing here in the empty hallway, staring at the wall?

He blinked around in confusion. That was how Kurt found him a few seconds later. "Blaine, there you are! I thought you were coming down to help me bring up the coffee?"

Blaine looked at the taller boy in confusion, seeing the three trays of coffee he was carrying, along with a tray of cookies. Suddenly he recalled that that was why he had left Nick's room, but that was only a few seconds ago. He was certain not enough time had passed for them to fill the coffee orders and for Kurt to have walked from the coffee shop on the first floor to the dorms on the fourth floor and on the opposite side of the building.

…

Kurt didn't understand why Blaine was frowning and looked confused. "Blaine? Are you okay?"

The darker boy looked up at him. "Um, Kurt, how long ago did I text you and say I was coming down to meet you?"

He considered the question. "Uh, about fifteen minutes ago? Why?"

Blaine seemed to be on the brink of freaking out. The door down the hall opened, and Trent stuck his head out. "Hey, there you are, what's taking so long?"

Kurt didn't bother to reply, just simply sent the thought into the husky Warbler's mind to come and get the coffee trays from Kurt and go back in to the room. Once the other boy had closed the door behind him, Kurt focused on Blaine, who had started to hyperventilate.

"Blaine! Come on, breathe slowly for me." He demonstrated a nice, deep, slow breath, and the other boy did his best to copy him. After a minute, his breathing slowed, and he slumped against the wall. "That's better. Now can you tell me what happened?"

Blaine slid down the wall and rested his head on his knees. He took one more deep, shuddery breath. "I lost time."

Kurt frowned, not sure he understood. "You lost time?"

Blaine nodded.

Kurt's frown deepened. For the first time he actually wished the other boy wasn't his lifemate so that he could read him and figure out what was going on. "What exactly does that mean?"

Another deep breath, and then the smaller boy answered. "I blacked out. It hasn't happened since I came to Dalton. After I got out of the hospital, it happened several times. I'd be doing something like brushing my teeth, and then the next thing I knew an hour had passed and I had no memory of it."

"And it happened again just now?" Kurt asked, sitting beside him.

Dark, gelled hair nodded. "I remember leaving Nick's room, and then suddenly you were there in front of me."

Kurt looked around them, wondering what could have caused this, suddenly realizing they were sitting in front of his own dorm. He took his phone from his pocket and sent a quick text.

Were you in my dorm in the last 30min? -K

It took a couple of minutes for Teddy to reply. Kurt waited patiently, rubbing Blaine's back and massaging his shoulders, whispering soothingly. When his phone chimed Teddy's response, he breathed a sigh of relief.

No, but I sent an A.B.B. Delivery guy up a little while ago. Stan has been cleared by Lucien. He's related to you somehow.

Kurt murmured to Blaine to just relax for a few minutes as he sent another text. "Wait here, I'm going to go grab our coffees and a cookie, if they haven't eaten them all yet."

He slipped down the hall to Nick's room, made up some excuse about Blaine not feeling well, gathered up their drinks and grabbed the last cookie just as Jeff reached for it. When he returned, he saw Teddy rushing down the hall towards them.

Teddy studied Blaine for a moment, and Kurt knew the older immortal was reading the boy. For a moment, a surge of jealousy shot through the pale boy. Teddy looked over at him with a grin.

"You might want to relax your grip on those cups, son. Wouldn't want you to scald yourself with hot coffee. Your boy is going to be fine. Hand me those drinks and help him into your room. I rearranged his memory a little. He'll remember meeting you downstairs, then getting sick on the way back. You naturally rushed him to your room, since it was closer."

Kurt sighed and relaxed, handing Teddy the drinks and helping a dazed Blaine into his dorm and to the bed. Teddy sent the boy to sleep for a few minutes before releasing his mind. The older man set the coffees on Kurt's desk and turned back to his lifemate's nephew.

Kurt blushed. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me out there. Thank you for your help."

Teddy nodded. "That's why I'm here. And don't sweat the jealousy thing. It's pretty common for new lifemates, or so I've been told. He's going to wake up any minute now, so I'm going to head out. Call me if you need anymore help."

Kurt closed the door behind the other man, and stood there with his back to it, staring at Blaine. The boy looked exhausted. Had he had trouble sleeping over the weekend? Had he had nightmares, and Kurt hadn't been there to soothe them? He frowned, not liking that thought.

Blaine sighed and shifted as he woke, blinking owlishly at Kurt. "Damn, I'm sorry, I don't know what hit me. I think maybe that hot dog I ate earlier might have been bad or something."

The pale boy smiled at him. "Don't sweat it. Feeling better now?"

Blaine nodded and smiled at him. "Yeah, thanks. How long was I asleep?"

"Just a few minutes. You look like you could use some more sleep though."

"Nah, I'm fine. Thirsty, though. And hungry again."

Kurt handed him his coffee and the cookie. "Eat this for now, and then we can walk down to the dining hall. They should be serving dinner by now. You probably need some real food."

Blaine laughed. "Hot dogs and popcorn aren't real food?"

The taller boy wrinkled his nose. "Not even close."

…

After dinner they went back to Blaine's dorm, and talked about their weekends. Blaine had spent most of the day Saturday reading his Luc Amerault books. Blaine had gotten a funny look on his face when Kurt asked him which book he was on.

"I just finished The Accidental Vampire, and I must be the dumbest person on the planet."

Kurt looked confused. "What? Why do you say that?"

"Well, I've read the first seven books in the series, and it took me this long to realize that your cousin was writing about his family, and the only reason I figured it out was because I thought the names Elvi and Teddy sounded familiar. Though I guess this is a different Teddy in the books. Is that his grandfather or something? I just don't know why he wrote them as vampires."

Kurt laughed nervously. "Or something. Yes, Lucern has taken it upon himself to write about how our family has met their significant others."

"Lifemates, you mean." Kurt almost had a heart attack. "Or at least that is what your cousin called them."

Kurt started to relax, but a thought occurred to him. He tried to sound casual when he asked, "Hey, how many more books do you have?"

Blaine frowned slightly as he thought about it. "I just have Vampires are for ever, Vampire, Interrupted, and The Rogue Hunter left." Once again Kurt was about to relax, when Blaine spoke, bursting his bubble of hope. "Oh, I also have The Immortal Hunter and The Renegade Hunter on order at the bookstore. I'm going to pick them up later this week."

Crap, Kurt thought. Blaine probably wouldn't think much about the vampire aspects of the next three books, but when he got to Dani and Decker's story and learned about what happened to Stephanie, he might mention it to Jeff, who could possibly cause problems.

Blaine smiled at the auburn haired boy. "You have the funniest look on your face. Is there some reason you don't want me to read the other books? Are you mentioned in them? Something embarrassing?"

"What? No!" Thank Gaga that was the truth. So far Lucern hadn't gotten around to writing Burt and Elizabeth's story. "No, I'm not mentioned in the books, though he does mention Tricia's siblings in the one he's working on now, but he doesn't mention my mom by name. At least I don't think he does."

Blaine grinned while trying to stifle a yawn. Kurt glanced at the clock and realized that curfew was only two minutes away. "I gotta go before room check. Sweet dreams, Blaine."

The smaller boy frowned for a moment, but then smiled again. "Sweet dreams, Kurt."

…

Once back in his own dorm, Kurt paced nervously. At first he had thought it funny that Blaine had been reading Lucern's books. He didn't think it would be a big deal, didn't think the other boy would catch on. Sighing, he took out his phone and called Stephanie.

"Kurt? Is something wrong? It's kind of late to be calling."

"I know, I'm sorry, but there is something you need to know about." He told her about Blaine figuring out the books, how close he was coming to her story. "When Teddy gets here tomorrow morning, I can have him make Blaine forget about the books for now, if you want.?"

She was silent for so long, the only way he knew the call hadn't dropped was the sound of her breathing. "Stephanie?"

"I'm okay. Don't worry about the books for now. If it becomes a problem we'll have Teddy handle it."

"Are you sure?"

She sighed. "Yeah, it's fine."


	11. Friendly Competition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sectionals this Chapter! Going off canon a little here. Just a little.

The following week was hectic at Dalton. On top of Warbler's practices, self defense class with Teddy, and working on getting Blaine to open up to him outside their shared dreams, he had a ton of homework. Classes at Dalton were much harder than those at McKinley, though Kurt loved the challenge of it. He would have been top of his class at McKinley if the teachers bothered to really grade the work rather than just give out pass/fail grades. Only Mr. Schuester and his French teacher had ever really acknowledged his intelligence.

And then there were the dreams. The first few nights he'd been back after his weekend home, the dreams were fairly ordinary. They were on a sail boat, and Blaine made fun of Kurt, who got seasick. They were at a fair, and Kurt laughed at Blaine, who got scared at the top of the Ferris wheel. They were baking in the kitchen and had a food fight. They were singing on stage at the Pantages.

And then there was another nightmare. Kurt had tried to redirect it, as he had before, but somehow Blaine had managed to push him out of the dream all together. Kurt sat up in bed, shocked by what had happened. He glanced at the clock; four thirteen in the morning. He sighed, frustrated. What was happening in Blaine's dream?

He had only gotten a glimpse, and heard a few words, before Blaine had shut him out. There was an older man who had the same facial features as Blaine, and he'd been calling Blaine weak, and using homophobic slurs.

Kurt lay down and tried to will himself back to sleep, needing to help his lifemate. After several long minutes of tossing and turning, he gave up and climbed out of bed. He dressed quickly and slipped silently down the hall. He knocked on Blaine's door.

"Blaine? Please, Blaine, can I come in? I need to talk to you." He knocked again, a little louder. He had heard the boy whimpering in his sleep. "Blaine! Let me in!"

There was a gasp from inside the room, and then he heard the smaller boy mumble his name. He knocked once more. "Please, Blaine? I-I need to talk to you!"

Finally, the door opened. Blaine looked like a wreck, hair gel-less, sticking out everywhere, eyes red and swollen, skin grayish.

"Kurt?" He sounded like a little boy seeking comfort after a fall. The pale boy just wanted to grab him up and rock him back and forth and whisper nonsense words to make it all better. "What are you doing here?"

Kurt stepped into Blaine's room, closing the door behind him. "I'm sorry, I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. I was heading down to the coffee shop when I heard you call out. I thought you'd hurt yourself."

Blaine let out a half choked sob. "I was having a bad dream. I'm sorry if it disturbed you."

"No, it's fine, I was just worried about you. Do you want to talk about it?" Kurt asked.

The darker boy sighed, still pretty shaken by the dream. He turned and sat on the side of the bed, putting his head in his hands. Kurt moved over and sat down beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Please, Blaine, talk to me? You don't have to go into detail if you don't want to. Just talk to me."

The other boy straightened his shoulders some, taking deep breaths to calm himself. "My dad and I don't get along very well. After I told him I was gay, he decided it was a choice I had made. He figured that if he made me do more 'manly' things, the gay would go away. He dragged me out camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, anything outdoorsy one summer. The next summer he made me rebuild a car with him. And then...the incident happened."

Kurt moved them both so that they were sitting more comfortably against the headboard. He pulled the smaller boy in against his side, letting him rest his curly head on his pale shoulder.

"I'd barely been out of the induced coma for a week when he mentioned it the first time. That if I had just 'manned up' and fought back, I wouldn't have been so severely injured. That if I hadn't chosen to be a weak little fairy, I could have knocked those guys on their asses." Each word that slipped from his lips had Kurt seeing red.

"Did you try to fight back?" Kurt asked softly.

"At first, yes. But there were too many of them. I managed to break the first guy's nose, but two more jumped me and pinned my arms to my sides."

Kurt hugged him. "Then your father's words are invalid. You did fight back. You aren't weak, you are simply human."

Blaine gave him a feeble smile at that. "Thanks, Kurt."

"I'm just stating the truth, no need to thank me for that. What happened with your dad after that?"

Blaine looked down, his fingers absently playing with the lapel on Kurt's blazer, tracing patterns. "I don't see him much anymore. He and my mother have been divorced since I was seven, and I live with her most of the time when I'm not here. I only see him a couple times during the summers. He still thinks he can make me straight. On the plus side, he's the reason I started boxing. I actually like it."

"Well, there's the silver lining." Kurt teased. "Why don't you get dressed and we'll go down to the coffee shop together."

Blaine smiled, not pulling away just yet. "Sounds like a plan. You don't have to wait for me, though. I'll be down in about fifteen minutes."

Kurt nodded, giving the other boy a hug before sitting up. "Okay, I'll meet you down there. I forgot my phone in my room anyway. I'm going to go grab that then head down. See you in a few."

He waited until Blaine gathered his clothes and disappeared into the bathroom, then went back down the hall to his room. He quickly grabbed a bag of blood, drinking it as fast as his fangs could suck it up, then using his superior speed, he showered and put on fresh clothes. He took a little more time on his face and hair, grabbed his phone, wallet, and messenger bag, then headed out the door. He made it to the coffee shop just a few minutes before Blaine.

…

Both boys were tired through out the day, and when Warbler's practice came around, they were both yawning. Wes was not amused.

"Come on, Blaine, Kurt! This is our last rehearsal before Sectionals tomorrow!"

Blaine looked contrite. "I'm sorry, I didn't sleep very well last night."

David was a bit more sympathetic. "Relax, Wes, we've gone over these numbers a million times. We've got the moves down. It's almost time for dinner. I think we should let out early so everyone can rest up and be ready to kill it for the judges tomorrow."

There were several murmurs of agreement for his words. Finally, Wes gave in and dismissed them for the evening.

They all went to dinner together, talking excitedly about the competition. They were halfway through the meal when Jordan's boyfriend, Kris came over to the table. "Hey, did you guys hear?"

"Hear what?" Jordan asked.

"George has gone missing. The police are saying he ran away, but his parents swear he'd never do that, that he had no reason to."

Kurt frowned. The name was familiar, but he wasn't sure why. Blaine noticed his confusion. "George was a Warbler, but he got sick before you came and hasn't been back since. He had mono, but there were complications."

Kurt remembered now, he'd heard Blaine mention the name his first morning here. The rest of the meal found the boys speculating on whether the boy had actually run away, or if someone had taken him and why.

When it was finally time to go to sleep, Kurt decided that tonight, no matter what, he was going to take control of the dream, and make sure that Blaine would have a good night's sleep. He built an image in his mind, concentrating on it as he lay down to sleep.

…

Blaine smiled when he looked around. He couldn't believe he was actually here. Diagon Alley! It was one of his favorite scenes from the movies.

"There you are, Blaine!" He heard someone call out. He turned and saw Kurt sitting in front of Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

Laughing he ran down the cobblestone street and hugged the taller boy. "Isn't this awesome, Kurt?"

"Very," the other boy said with a little sigh, hugging him a little tighter. After a moment, the pale boy pulled away, somewhat reluctantly, Blaine thought. "Our ice cream is melting."

…

As they prepared to depart for the venue where the competition would be held, Kurt smiled as he watched Blaine. He seemed really happy today. The dream he had built for them had been amazing. They had explored the various shops made famous by the books. For a while, they had even forgotten it was just a dream and had argued over whether to buy an owl or a large ginger tabby.

The best part though, was that this morning, Blaine kept smiling at him, and looking at him as if he knew that Kurt had shared the dream with him. Kurt knew better than to get his hopes up just yet. Blaine still had issues he had to work through. But he was so happy that he had been able to give the boy at least that one perfect dream.

They reached the venue, and had just entered when several female voices called his name. "Kurt!"

He smiled as the New Direction girls rushed over and smothered him in hugs. He laughed and hugged them back. Even though it had been just over a week since he'd seen them, he really missed his friends.

Stephanie and Jeff were hugging as well. He smiled at the girl, glad she had at least one family member here to see her perform. The rest of new directions came over to great them. Finn gave him a hug, which surprised him, but felt good none the less.

As they headed backstage, he saw his dad and Carole, along with Tricia and Teddy, slip into their seats in the audience. He waved to them.

Half an hour later, they took their seats in the back of the theater as the first choir was announced. The older choir did an amazing job on The Living Years, but their version of Forever Young was marred when one of the gentleman seemed to have a mild heart attack near the end and had to be carried off stage by the nurse that had accompanied them.

Kurt was a little nervous as the Warblers took the stage. He didn't have a solo, so he wasn't feeling too much pressure, but this was the first time he was singing against New Directions. He loved them, and didn't want either of the teams to lose.

They opened with Hey Soul Sister, and Blaine was perfect, as usual. Then Nick and Jeff took the leads on Uptown Girl. The girls in the audience really seemed to love it. They finished with Wes leading on She drives me Crazy by Fine Young Cannibals. Kurt thought they had a really good chance of winning.

They took their seats again just as New Directions were introduced. Kurt was surprised when Stephanie took the stage alone and began singing.

Can anybody find me somebody to love

Ooh, each morning I get up I die a little  
Can barely stand on my feet  
(Take a look at yourself) Take a look in the mirror and cry (and cry)  
Lord what you're doing to me (yeah yeah)  
I have spent all my years in believing you  
But I just can't get no relief, Lord!  
Somebody (somebody) ooh somebody (somebody)  
Can anybody find me somebody to love?

Artie wheeled out on to stage and joined her. Kurt remembered when they'd done this song last year. It had been good then, but this was amazing. Stephanie and Artie's chemistry infused the song with more depth and emotion than Rachel and Finn ever had.

I work hard (he works hard) every day of my life  
I work till I ache in my bones  
At the end (at the end of the day)  
I take home my hard earned pay all on my own  
I get down (down) on my knees (knees)  
And I start to pray  
Till the tears run down from my eyes  
Lord somebody (somebody), ooh somebody  
(Please) can anybody find me somebody to love?

(He works hard)  
Everyday (everyday) I try and I try and I try  
But everybody wants to put me down  
They say I'm going crazy  
They say I got a lot of water in my brain  
Ah, got no common sense  
I got nobody left to believe in  
Yeah yeah yeah yeah

The rest of New Directions made their way on stage, singing and dancing.

Oh Lord  
Ooh somebody, ooh somebody  
Can anybody find me somebody to love?  
(Can anybody find me someone to love)

Got no feel, I got no rhythm  
I just keep losing my beat (you just keep losing and losing)  
I'm OK, I'm alright (he's alright, he's alright)  
I ain't gonna face no defeat (yeah yeah)  
I just gotta get out of this prison cell  
One day (someday) I'm gonna be free, Lord!

Find me somebody to love  
Find me somebody to love  
Find me somebody to love  
Find me somebody to love  
Find me somebody to love  
Find me somebody to love  
Find me somebody to love  
Find me somebody to love love love  
Find me somebody to love  
Find me somebody to love  
Somebody somebody somebody somebody  
Somebody find me  
Somebody find me somebody to love  
Can anybody find me somebody to love?  
(Find me somebody to love)  
Ooh  
(Find me somebody to love)  
Find me somebody, somebody (find me somebody to love) somebody, somebody to love  
Find me, find me, find me, find me, find me  
Ooh, somebody to love (Find me somebody to love)  
Ooh (find me somebody to love)  
Find me, find me, find me somebody to love (find me somebody to love)  
Anybody, anywhere, anybody find me somebody to love love love!  
Somebody find me, find me love

The applause echoed through the auditorium. Kurt, Jeff, Blaine and Nick stood as Stephanie took her bow. Once they took a seat, Quinn and Sam performed (I've had) The Time of My Life, And they ended it with Santana singing Valerie. They were really good, and now Kurt wasn't so sure of the Warblers' chances.

The wait for the results was nerve wracking. All three choirs chatted backstage (the gentleman who had collapsed was fine, just needed some air and water), and agreed that they had all done a great job. When they were finally called out on stage for the announcement, they wished each other good luck.

The Hipsters took third place, and the other two teams applauded for them enthusiastically. And then they held their breaths waiting to find out which of them would be moving forward.

"It's a tie!" Kurt couldn't hear anything after that as both teams shouted and hugged and celebrated.


	12. Surprises and Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will cover a large chunk of time (Thanksgiving thru New Years) in a short amount of time. There will be lots of Klaine, Niff, Artiphanie (Thoughts on this ship name?), New Directions, Warblers, and more Marguerite and Julius Notte!
> 
> For those not familiar with the Argeneau series, Marguerite is at least mentioned if not actually in every book in the series. She's...well, impossible to describe. She's over seven hundred years old, and has had something of a rough life, but she's very motherly, over protective, and unstoppable. I hope you love her as much as I do!

The Warblers' celebration of their Sectionals tie continued through the week, right up to Thanksgiving break. They couldn't walk five steps through the halls without someone stopping them to congratulate them and tell them how awesome they were. Kurt could definitely get used to this. He knew from Mercedes and Stephanie that their Sectionals victory had gone ignored by the general population of McKinley, as usual.

Kurt continued to share dreams with Blaine, and was happy that there had been no nightmares this week. He was afraid of what would happen over the four day weekend, though. He would be going home to have thanksgiving with his dad, Carole, Finn, Tricia, Teddy, and Stephanie, while Blaine and his mother were traveling to Connecticut to visit his grandparents, a couple of aunts, and some cousins.

Blaine was supposed to leave as soon as his last class let out, and had already carried his suitcase out to his car when he met Kurt for coffee Wednesday morning, and they said their goodbyes at lunch.

Kurt hugged the shorter boy. "Do me a favor?"

"What's that?" Blaine asked.

"Call me if you need to talk about anything? I don't care what time of day or night. If you have a nightmare, I want you to call me, okay? You don't have to give me any details if you don't want to. You don't even have to talk at all. Call me and I'll sing you to sleep."

Blaine smiled shyly. "I promise."

…

The phone rang at two seventeen a.m. Saturday morning. Kurt answered on the second ring. "Blaine? What's wrong?"

He could hear choking gasps on the other end of the line. "Shh, Blaine, it's okay. Do you want to talk about it?"

A whimper was his answer.

"Should I sing for you?"

There was sob, and a choked out, "Please."

Once, there was a way to get back homeward  
Once, there was a way to get back home  
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry  
And I will sing a lullaby

Golden slumbers fill your eyes  
Smiles awake you when you rise  
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry  
And I will sing a lullaby

Once, there was a way to get back homeward  
Once, there was a way to get back home  
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry  
And I will sing a lullaby

…

Blaine returned to Dalton late Sunday evening. Kurt was there to meet him. He hugged the taller boy tightly. "Thank you."

"Thank you for calling me. I'm glad I could be there for you." Kurt insisted on carrying his suitcase upstairs for him.

Blaine was glad for the company. He had missed the boy while he'd been gone. He'd also missed the dream Kurt again. That had been really bad, especially since he'd dreamed about Trace again. And the other one, too. Damn, he couldn't even allow himself to think the name. Dreaming about him always shredded him up inside. To think the name when he was awake would just make it worse.

He and Kurt hung out until just before dorm check, when the pale boy went back to his own room. Blaine was tired, but wasn't sleepy. He got ready for bed, and picked up the book he hadn't gotten the chance to start over the weekend, since his cousins had kept him occupied all weekend, and he had fallen asleep on the flight back. He scanned the cover, reading the title. The Immortal Hunter.

By chapter three, he was so engrossed he didn't want to put the book down. This was Dani and Decker's story, but he recognized one of the other names. Stephanie. Geesh, he hoped the author had exaggerated the events, cause what happened to the girl in the book was almost as horrific as what had happened to him.

…

Monday morning, they were sitting in the dining hall for breakfast, when Jordan came over, looking disheveled and agitated. "Have either of you seen Kris?"

They shook their heads no, and asked him what was up.

"We went to a Party Saturday night, but we had a fight, and he stormed out. I've been calling and texting him ever since, but he hasn't answered, and his roommate says he didn't return last night."

"That doesn't sound like Kris," Blaine said with a frown. "Have you called his parents?"

"I tried, but I keep getting a recording saying the voice mail box is full."

Kurt frowned. "Maybe he is sick. Give it till lunch time and try calling him again."

The older boy just nodded and walked away. But by lunch time, there was no sign of the boy, and a police officer came to the school to speak to Jordan.

..

The last few weeks of the semester before Christmas break seemed to fly by. Kurt was happy, Blaine had started opening up to him more about his past. He still hadn't shared all the details of what had happened, but he talked more about his relationship with his dad, and had shared some stories of other incidents that had happened at his old school. It was similar to what Kurt had gone through, minus the slushie facials.

There had been a couple more nightmares, though Kurt had managed to take control of the dreams before they could get too bad.

The Friday evening prior to the last week of school before the holidays, Kurt was studying in one of the common rooms, when Blaine startled him.

"I need you to sing with me. Well, rehearse with me. I've got a gig singing Baby it's Cold Outside in the Kings Island Christmas Spectacular."

Kurt smiled, and Blaine started the music.

I really can't stay (But, baby, it's cold outside)  
I've got to go away (But, baby, it's cold outside)  
This evening has been (Been hoping that you'd drop in)  
So very nice (I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice)

They flirted and teased as they moved around the room.

My mother will start to worry (Beautiful, what's your hurry?)  
My father will be pacing the floor (Listen to the fireplace roar)  
So really, I'd better scurry (Beautiful, please don't hurry)  
But maybe just a half a drink more (Put some records on while I pour)

The neighbors might faint (Baby, it's bad out there)  
Say, what's in this drink? (No cabs to be had out there)  
I wish I knew how (Your eyes are like starlight now)  
To break the spell (I'll take your hat, your hair looks well)

I ought to say no, no, no, sir (Mind if I move in closer?)  
At least I'm gonna say that I tried (What's the sense in hurting my pride?)  
I really can't stay (Baby, don't hold out)

Baby (Oh, but)

It's cold outside

I simply must go (But, baby, it's cold outside)  
The answer is no (But, baby, it's cold outside)  
This welcome has been (How lucky that you dropped in)  
So nice and warm (Look out the window at that storm)

My sister will be suspicious (Gosh, your lips look delicious)  
My brother will be there at the door (Waves upon a tropical shore)  
My maiden aunt's mind is vicious (Ooh, your lips are delicious)  
But maybe just a cigarette more (Never such a blizzard before)

I've gotta get home (But, baby, you'd freeze out there)  
Say, lend me your coat (It's up to your knees out there)  
You've really been grand (I thrill when you touch my hand)  
But don't you see (How can you do this thing to me?)

There's bound to be talk tomorrow (Think about a lifelong sorrow)  
At least there will be plenty implied (If you caught pneumonia and died)  
I really can't stay (Get over that hold out)

They collapsed together on the couch as they sang the last lines.

Ooh, baby (Oh, but)

It's cold outside

They both sat there laughing for a minute. Kurt looked at the other boy. He wanted to lean in and kiss him so badly. Had inched a little closer.

Unfortunately, that was when he woke up.

…

The last week of school before the break went by quickly. The Warblers put on a program for the rest of the school, and Kurt got a solo, as well as a duet with Blaine singing White Christmas.

Once again, Kurt and Blaine would be separated, at least for the first half of the Holidays, with Kurt remaining in Lima, and Blaine traveling to visit relatives, this time it would be an uncle and cousins in Boston. He'd return the day after Christmas, though. He and Kurt had been invited to go skiing for a few days with Jeff and Nick and some of the other Warblers.

As they said their farewells, Kurt once again made Blaine promise to call if he needed. Kurt began the drive home to Lima, though not to his old house. His Dad and Carole and Finn had moved into a larger house the weekend before. He and Blaine had driven up to help. He got a surprise when he pulled into the drive. Tricia and Teddy's truck was there, but so was an unfamiliar town car.

He walked into the house to find a scene of controlled chaos. Stephanie was decorating the living room, while a blank faced Finn sat quietly on the couch. From somewhere upstairs, there were shouts and screams of terror. Kurt's eyes had gone wide as saucers when he heard it. The teenage girl looked over at him with a little smile. She had to shout to be heard over the cacophony coming from upstairs.

"Your Aunt Marguerite is here, she brought the blood and drugs for Carole's turning. Unfortunately Finn came home from Glee practice early." Kurt nodded. He'd never witnessed a turning before, but he'd heard stories. Going by the shrieks coming from the sweet woman, the stories were true. He was glad he had been born immortal.

He studied the girl hanging evergreen swags from the mantel. Had her turning been like that? She seemed to know what he was thinking, which wasn't too surprising all things considered. She smiled sadly at him, and just shrugged at him, as if to say, it's over, there's nothing to be done about it now.

"So why did Finn come home early?" He hung his coat up, set his messenger bag down, and took off his boots, then began helping with the decorating.

"He and Rachel had a fight. They broke up."

"Shocking. How are the rest of the gang doing?"

She smiled at him. "They're good. They miss you. They're always talking about you. How are things going with Blaine?"

He sighed. "Slow, but getting better. He's starting to open up to me some."

The noise from upstairs diminished suddenly. After a few minutes, Teddy, Tricia, Julius Notte, and Aunt Marguerite came down the stairs. The dark haired Italian had blood dripping from his nose. They heard Marguerite apologizing to her lifemate.

"I'm so sorry, Darling, I didn't get her leg pinned down fast enough. Is it broken?" She said in that oddly accented voice of hers."

"No, my dear, it's not broken, and there is no need to apologize. I didn't duck fast enough." They spotted the teens in the living room. "Kurt! How long have you been home?"

He smiled at them. "I just got here a few minutes ago. How is Carole?"

The auburn haired woman pulled him into a hug. "She's doing just fine," His aunt said. "She's strong and healthy."

Julius patted him on the back. When he'd first met his new uncle, he'd been rather nervous. The Notte men were all very masculine, very macho, very Italian. Kurt had been worried that he'd be unaccepting of Kurt's sexuality. Most immortals were open minded, but there were some who didn't approve. Kurt needn't have worried. Julius Notte was very supportive, and just as protective as Aunt Marguerite.

He glanced over his shoulder at his stepbrother. "What are we going to do about Finn?"

Marguerite sighed, and clucked her tongue. "The poor boy, he's having a really bad day, isn't he? First he breaks up with his girlfriend, and then comes home to find his Mother shrieking in pain. And he's hungry, too. Why don't you all finish decorating, while I make dinner."

"NO!" Shouted five voices in unison.

Kurt smiled sweetly at the petite woman. "No offense, Aunt Marguerite, but you're still learning your way around a kitchen. Why don't you let me cook, and you can help. Let's see what we've got, and I'll teach you something easy."

She smiled at him. "You're such a sweet boy. Okay, lead the way. The others can finish decorating. Finn can help for now, while his mother is quiet."

They ended up making a simple chicken broccoli bake and wild rice with mushrooms and cheese. Aunt Marguerite chatted amiably as they worked, and he instructed her on how to make the vinaigrette to dress the salad she made.

"So how is your Blaine situation?" She asked. Kurt sighed and told her about what had been going on, about the dreams. She patted him on the back. "It will all work out in the end. Just be patient."

Kurt groaned. "I'm really starting to hate those words."

The older woman laughed and hugged him. They called the others in to eat. The new house had a large dinning room, and Teddy and Tricia had bought Burt and Carole a nice new dinning set as a wedding present. It was adjustable, and could sit six to twelve people comfortably.

Finn was the first to enter, taking his seat. He was still getting used to having so many extended family members coming and going, and seemed a little leery of Julius Notte. He was used to having his mother there as a buffer between Kurt's relatives and himself. They coaxed him into conversations, though, and he started to relax around them.

Around halfway through the meal, Burt came down stairs, looking a little worse for wear. Finn looked at him oddly for moment, but Marguerite simply took control of his mind again, relaxing him and making him forget Burt's presences as he finished eating. After dinner Teddy suggested that they should take Finn and Stephanie and go get the Christmas tree.

The three teens enjoyed searching for the perfect tree, each pointing out bigger and bigger trees, and laughing about how they'd have to cut holes in the roof to fit them into the house. Eventually, they settled on a tree that was just shy of seven feet tall, and nicely symmetrical. On the ride home, they rode in the back of Teddy's pick up truck and sang Christmas carols. They got the tree set up in the house, but wouldn't start decorating it until after Carole finished her turning.

Saturday, Kurt took Finn and Stephanie Christmas shopping. They ran into Mercedes and Tina at the mall, and the two girls joined them as they browsed for last minute gifts. They returned home relatively early, as Stephanie had a date with Artie that evening.

Kurt helped her pick out an outfit. They decided on a knee length pleated red and black plaid skirt, with a red scooped neck tshirt accented with a thin black belt, and leather cuff bracelets and a lace choker with a cameo attached.

Kurt smiled at the girl, trying to keep the wistful look off his face. She seemed to notice it, though. She hugged him. "He'll come around, Kurt. Teddy thinks he's almost ready to tell you everything."

He sighed. "I'm happy for you, Stephanie, I really am. It's just that, well, I always thought when I found my lifemate, we'd fall in love instantly, and live happily ever after, like in my favorite musicals. I never thought it would be this complicated."

She hugged him again. "You'll have your Happily Ever After, Kurt. Just have a little faith."

He smiled at her as they heard the knock on the door downstairs. He smiled at Artie, and hugged the younger boy. He waved them off as they drove away. As he went into the kitchen, he saw his Dad and Carole sitting at the counter with Marguerite and Julius.

"Carole! You look great!" He hugged his step mother, and looked her over. The nanos hadn't had much work to do with her. She still looked mostly the same, just a little slimmer, and her skin had a more healthy glow to it.

She smiled at him. "thank you, Kurt. And thanks for keeping Finn distracted the last couple of days. If I had known he was going to break up with Rachel this weekend, I would have waited to go through the turn."

He waved that off. "It was nothing. He's gone over to Mike's house to play video games. I was about to make dinner."

"Don't bother," his dad said, smiling. "We've already ordered take out. It should be here soon."

"Okay. I guess I'll just get something to drink and go call Blaine, then. Let me know when the food arrives."

He grabbed a bottle of water and headed to his room, laying down on his bed before dialing Blaine's number.

"Kurt! Perfect timing! If I had to listen to my cousin going on and on about his girlfriend for another minute, I would have had to call you to come bail me out of jail!"

Kurt laughed. "That bad, huh?"

The other boy laughed as well. "It wouldn't be so bad, but my older brother showed up out of the blue and is egging him on!"

The pale boy frowned. "Older brother? I didn't know you had any siblings."

There was silence on the line for a moment. "I don't talk about Cooper much. He's a lot older than me. He'd already moved out when my parents got divorced. We've never really been very close."

"I'm sorry," Kurt replied.

Blaine sighed. "So, how are your holidays going so far?"

"Okay. My Aunt Marguerite and her new husband, Julius are here. It's been good getting to know them better. My mom used to talk about Marguerite like the woman was some kind of legend in the family or something, so it's been a little daunting being around her, but she's really nice."

"That's cool. Have any plans for the next few days?"

"We're decorating the tree tomorrow, and then I think we're going ice skating. Other than that, not much until Christmas Eve. What about you?"

"Not much. I'm so bored. I'd like to go sight seeing, but it's snowing."

They talked for a while longer before Teddy called up the stairs that dinner had arrived.

The next few days were uneventful. Kurt talked to Blaine daily. There were no middle of the night calls, so Kurt assumed there were no nightmares.

Christmas morning arrived, and everyone was delighted by the gifts they received. Kurt had gotten a sampler of skin care products from Stephanie, a couple of unique brooches from Teddy and Tricia, a gift card from Finn for his favorite shop at the mall, several videos he'd been wanting from his dad, a very nice vest and another brooch from Carole, and a very nice watch from Aunt Marguerite and Julius. There were also concert tickets from the older couple.

"No way! Lady Gaga, in Toronto? Thank you!" The auburn haired woman smiled sweetly at him.

"It's during your spring break. You'll stay at Harper's penthouse. There's tickets for your Blaine, as well. I assume he has a passport? If not, no worries, we'll handle it. And Stephanie will be there with her Artie, as well."

He hugged her tightly. He couldn't wait to tell Blaine.

The rest of the day was spent laughing and singing and playing board games and cards. Kurt and Carole prepared a huge meal, plus a Birthday cake for Tricia, who was born on Christmas. After they ate, they went outside to play in the snow.

The next morning he was excitedly packing his bag. Blaine was going to pick him up at noon to drive them to Jeff's family's cabin, where they would stay until the day before New Years Eve. He hadn't told Blaine about the Gaga tickets yet.

He had just finished fixing a lite lunch when Blaine knocked. Kurt was giddy when he opened the door. "Guess what?" They both spoke at the same time.

Laughing, Kurt pulled him inside. "You go first."

"My mom bought me a new car for Christmas! She let me pick it out!"

Kurt smiled. "That's awesome, but not as awesome as what my Aunt Marguerite gave me for Christmas!"

"Oh?" The shorter boy grinned. "What did she do, get you Ryan Seacrest?"

"No, something much better! Tickets for two to see Lady Gaga in Toronto! It's during spring break, so we'll be able to stay all week and my cousin Drina's fiance, Harper is going to let us stay at his penthouse!"

"Wow, that is awesome, Kurt! Who are you going to take with you?"

Kurt frowned a little. "You, silly! Who else would I take?"

Blaine laughed. "Wow, Kurt, that's sweet, but what if you find a boyfriend before then? Wouldn't you want to take him with you?"

Kurt felt like his heart was breaking. "You don't want to go with me?"

"Of course I'd like to go with you. You're my best friend. I'm just saying you should keep an open mind."

Kurt turned away, suddenly subdued. "I guess you're right. I packed us a lunch to take with us. Why don't you carry it out to the car while I get my bag and say goodbye to my dad?"

They were silent as they began the four hour drive. Kurt stared out the window. After a while, Blaine cleared his throat. "Did I say something to upset you?"

"What? Oh, no. I just thought you'd be more excited about going to Toronto with me."

"Kurt, I'd love to go to Toronto with you. Like I said, you're my best friend. I just think you should keep your options open."

Kurt wanted to tell him that he didn't have any other options, that there was only one person in the world for him. He had hoped that Blaine had developed some feelings for him, but apparently the boy still only thought of him as a friend. He put on a brave face, and did what he did best; he pretended.

He must be the worlds greatest pretender, because Blaine seemed convinced. They turned the radio on, and sang along for the rest of the drive.

Jeff met them at the door when they arrived, and the blonde boy gave him a curious look. He could hear the taller boy's thoughts as he looked him over.

Uh oh, Blaine is shutting him out again. Can the boy be any more oblivious?

Okay, so maybe Kurt wasn't that great at pretending.

…

They spent New Years Eve at Kurt's house. They invited New Directions and those Warblers who were still in the area. Once again, the two competitive show choirs enjoyed each other's company, and the party went on into the wee hours of the night, with singing and dancing.

The last few days before school started back up, were frustrating for Kurt. Though he talked to Blaine nearly every day for at least an hour, there were no shared dreams, and no calls from Blaine during the night. Either the boy wasn't having nightmares, or he just wasn't telling Kurt about them.

He breathed a sigh of relief when they went back to school. He was bound and determined to get Blaine to open up to him fully. He just needed a plan.

They were sitting in the commons after dinner the first night, each pretending to be doing homework, along with several other boys. Someone had turned on the large screen plasma TV, the volume just loud enough to be heard, though no one was really paying attention to it as a news report droned on.

Kurt saw Blaine stiffen suddenly as the news report continued. "...is the sixth disappearance of a young man from the Westerville area in the last three months. The most recent disappearance, that of seventeen year old Trace Morgan of Westerville High, is most worrisome, as the boy has a medical condition that puts him in the at risk category."

"Blaine? What's wrong?" The shorter boy didn't respond, simply grabbed his books and rushed out.


	13. Breakdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We'll learn more of what happened to Blaine in the past. And what's up with the missing boys? Short chapter.
> 
> I really would appreciate some reviews on this story.

Kurt chased Blaine through the halls, calling his name. If there hadn't been so many mortals around, he would have put on a burst of immortal speed. As it was, running at normal speed, he barely kept the smaller boy in sight. He saw the darker boy collide with Nick, bowling him over, but he didn't even stop.

Kurt slowed down to make sure their friend was okay, and Jeff reached out to grab his arm. "What happened?"

"I don't know! We were in the commons doing our homework when someone turned on the TV. There was a news report about a missing boy from Westerville High School, and Blaine just took off!"

"Westerville high?" Nick inquired. "Did you happen to catch the boy's name?"

"Uh, Trace something?"

Jeff swore. "Trace Morgan?"

"That sounds about right. Why?"

Nick and Jeff exchanged a look. Kurt was too upset to try and read them. Nick let out a sigh.

"Would someone please tell me what is going on? Why is Blaine upset?"

Jeff sighed in resignation. "He needs to know. We can at least tell him about Trace. That part is common knowledge, it's on the internet."

Kurt mentally kicked himself. He could have looked things up months ago. Why hadn't he? "Please, just tell me."

They lead him back to their shared dorm and settled him on Jeff's bed. Nick took a deep breath, then began to talk. "I can't tell you everything, but Jeff is right, you should know about Trace at least. The night Blaine was attacked, he was with another boy, Trace Morgan. They were just friends, hanging out at a school dance. When the dance was over, several boys jumped them in the parking lot while they were waiting for Trace's dad."

Jeff stepped in and continued the story. "Blaine was severely injured, multiple broken bones, a collapsed lung, a cracked skull, and more. Trace got it worse, though, ended up having permanent brain damage, memory loss, and seizures because of it. Blaine blames himself for what happened to his friend."

Kurt tried to digest this news. "What about this Trace, does he blame Blaine?"

Nick shook his head with a sigh. "Trace doesn't even remember Blaine at all."

Jeff nodded. "In a way, that makes it worse in Blaine's mind. He thinks he destroyed the boy's life."

"And now he's gone missing like George and Kris and three others." Kurt sighed. "Thanks for telling me. I'm going to go try to talk to Blaine."

He didn't go straight to the other boy's dorm, though. He stopped in his own room to make a phone call. "Tricia? Hey, I think there is something going on around here."

He told her about the missing boys. His aunt swore under her breath. "I'll look in to it, see if there is any indication of rogue involvement. Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem."

After he hung up he made his way down the hall to Blaine's room. He knocked softly, but got no response. On impulse he checked the door. It wasn't locked. Like Kurt, Blaine had a single room, with no roommates.

The lights were off, but with his excellent night vision, Kurt could see Blaine laying on the bed. He made his way over and sat beside the shorter boy. "Nick and Jeff told me about Trace. I'm sorry."

The only reply he got was a sob. Reaching over, he pulled the other boy into his arms, holding him and rubbing his back. "Will you tell me what happened?"

Silence stretched on for several minutes, as Blaine tried to control his crying. Kurt was patient, content to just hold his lifemate in his arms. Finally, the darker boy calmed some. Kurt reached out and grabbed some tissues from the box beside the bed, offering them to the boy in his arms.

Blaine wiped his eyes and blew his nose, tossing the used tissues in the general direction of the trash can. He took a few deep breaths, and slowly sat up. Kurt missed the contact and wanted to pull him back in. Instead, he waited for Blaine to compose himself.

"I'm sorry, Kurt. It just came as a shock to hear the name."

"It's okay, I understand that. I would like to know what happened, though. Please?" He couldn't stop himself from reaching out to take the other boy's hand.

Blaine took a deep, shuddery breath, and then nodded. They shifted so they were both sitting more comfortably on the bed, Kurt keeping hold of the hazel eyed boy's hand, absently rubbing his thumb over the back. "It started in Jr. High, when I met Trace and another boy named Oliver." Kurt noticed he winced when he said the second name. "The three of us became friends. We did everything together. I knew Trace was gay, he'd already come out. It wasn't until the summer between Jr. high and high school that I learned that Oliver was also gay. I was shocked when he asked me to be his boyfriend. I had just come out to my parents, but hadn't come out at school, and Oliver wasn't out at all."

He stopped, coughing some as he fought not to cry again. Kurt squeezed his hand in encouragement. "When my dad wasn't dragging me out to do 'manly things,' Oliver and I spent as much time together as we could. He told me he loved me. He just didn't want people to know we were together. When freshman year started, I told him I wanted to come out publicly. I knew Trace was being bullied because of his sexuality, and I wanted to come out to support him."

Blaine frowned, his eyes unfocused as he remembered the past. "Oliver didn't want me to come out. He said I'd get tormented and teased, and that because he and I were friends, he'd get outed too. He said if I came out, we'd be over. I told him I couldn't live a lie anymore. He stopped hanging out with us. And when the bullies started tormenting us, he egged them on."

"The night of the Sadie Hawkins dance, Trace and I hung out together. We weren't dating or anything, we were just friends. We laughed and talked. We didn't even dance together, although we did dance as part of a group. Afterwards, I waited with him in the parking lot for his dad to pick him up."

His breathing started to get erratic. Kurt pulled him closer, putting his arm around the other boy's shoulders. A sob escaped from Blaine as he continued talking. "We were just standing there, talking, when Oliver and several other boys came roaring around the curb heading straight for us in someone's pickup. We dodged out of the way, but they jumped out of the truck and attacked us. They beat the crap out of us. When they finally stopped and got back in the truck, I thought it would be the end of it. But they backed up, running over our legs. David's dad was the surgeon on call that night. He said it was a miracle either of us can still walk."

He started sobbing again, and Kurt just held him, rubbing his back, singing softly through his breakdown. Eventually, he fell asleep in Kurt's arms.

…

Blaine was pretty subdued for the next couple of weeks, quieter than usual, and somewhat withdrawn. The only time he opened up at all was in their shared dreams. Kurt was becoming jealous of his dream self. He wanted Blaine to be this open and happy around him when they were awake.

Now that he understood what happened to Blaine in his past, he just wanted to kiss the other boy and tell him that they were lifemates, but he still didn't think the other boy was ready to accept the news. The shorter boy still had to work through his issues.

The third Friday of January, Blaine and Kurt were invited to Wes' eighteenth birthday party at the Warblers' lead councilman's house. They decided to ride together in Kurt's Navigator.

The party was fun, but by midnight, Blaine was ready to return to Dalton. They said their good nights to the other boys, and made their way out to the car. It had started to snow around ten thirty, and a generous layer of fluffy white powder covered every surface. Kurt was a cautious driver by nature, his dad having drilled it into him from a young age that cars were deadly weapons in the wrong hands.

The drive from Dalton to Wes' home had only taken a little over an hour, but now the road conditions were worse, and Kurt took his time. Blaine was so tired, he'd fallen asleep almost as soon as Kurt had pulled onto the highway. There weren't very many other cars on the road.

They reached their exit, and Kurt signaled the turn. The tires hit a patch of black ice, and the large vehicle swerved. Kurt tried to recover, but there was no traction for the tires to grip on to. The right side of the car went off the road, and they flipped over. Pain lanced through Kurt's legs, something else slammed into his shoulder as they flipped again. Kurt's head hit the door frame as they came to a stop, upside down in a drainage ditch, mostly hidden by over grown shrubs. He tried to cling to consciousness, but darkness overwhelmed him. His last thought was of Blaine. He hoped the other boy was okay.


	14. Discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cliff hanger! Muahahaha! What will happen next? Read on!
> 
> Oh! Lucian is coming! Well, sort of...

He groaned as he woke up. He hurt everywhere. He blinked around him, disoriented. Awareness came swiftly as he realized he was hanging upside down. He looked to the boy beside him, taking note of his injuries. He carefully freed himself from the seat belt holding him upside down, then freed his companion, doing his best not to hurt the other boy any worse than he was already hurt. He managed to get both of them out of the vehicle.

He reassessed both of their injuries. He himself wasn't too badly injured, mostly just scratches from broken glass, and bruises all over, but nothing seemed to be broken. He was bleeding rather copiously from a scalp wound, though. He climbed back into the wrecked Navigator, searching for his phone and a few other items he knew would be located in the back of the vehicle.

Finding what he needed, along with the other boy's phone, he climbed back out of the car, looking around to get his bearings. Dalton was just over a block away. He returned to the unconscious boy, lifting him carefully in his arms and began to walk. It was slow going, and the roads were empty due to the snow. He shivered from the cold, but didn't stop moving. He made it back to the main building, using his key to get in the back door closest to the stairs that led up to the dorms.

He reached the dorm he was looking for, and used another key to unlock the door. Closing it behind them, he breathed a sigh of relief that no one had spotted them. He couldn't explain to anyone why he had carried an unconscious, obviously gravely injured boy up to the dorms rather than calling an ambulance.

He laid the boy gently on the bed, and laid down the supplies he'd taken from the car beside him. He picked up the first bag of blood, just staring at it for a moment. Before he could do anything with it, the boy on the bed began to groan in pain. Still holding the bag, he moved to sit on the bed beside the thrashing boy.

When Kurt opened his mouth and his fangs sprang forward, Blaine slammed the bag of blood onto the sharp teeth.

…

The first thing Kurt became aware of was the pain. His leg and shoulder felt like ants were crawling all over them, biting him over and over. His stomach was cramping, and he knew the nanos were seeking more blood. He whimpered and tried to make sense of what was happening. Somewhere in the distance he heard a shout of triumph. He had no idea who made the noise, or even where he was. The pain became unbearable, and he lost consciousness again.

…

Blaine gave a little shout of triumph as he discovered the false panel in the closet. He knew Kurt must have had a hidden stash of blood somewhere. He opened the mini fridge that had been concealed by the sliding panel, finding a dozen more bags of blood. He didn't know how much Kurt would need. He grabbed four bags for now, hurrying out of the closet. He noticed the last bag of blood from the car was empty, and Kurt seemed to be writhing in agony again. He quickly popped a fresh bag to the exposed fangs, and the other boy calmed almost immediately.

As he watched the blood disappear out of the bag, Blaine picked up Kurt's phone, scrolling through the contacts there. He switched out the bags again before hitting dial. A groggy voice answered on the third ring.

"Kurt?"

"No, Mr. Hummel, it's Blaine. Kurt's been injured, we slid off the road and rolled over. I've been giving him blood, but I don't know if I should do anything else."

There was a silence on the line as Burt Hummel processed what he had just heard.

"Blaine? When you say you've been giving him blood, what exactly do you mean?"

Blaine cleared his throat. "Uh, I've been popping the bags on his fangs like they did in Lucern's books. He's had five bags now. Should I give him more?"

Burt swore under his breath. "How badly is he hurt? Is he awake?" In the background he could hear the older man talking to someone, presumably Carole, Kurt's stepmother.

"Um, he had a large gash in his thigh, but it missed the femoral artery, I think. And the head rest had broken and stabbed him in the right shoulder, and I think he has a concussion." Blaine looked the other boy over again.

"Okay, kiddo," Burt said, sounding more awake. "Teddy is on his way up to asses the situation. He should be there in just a few minutes." Once Livy had departed with Elvi and Victor, Teddy and Tricia had moved into a small apartment nearer Dalton to help out there as needed.

"Okay, good," Blaine said. "Kurt is thrashing again. Should I give him more blood while I wait?"

"Yeah, but just one more for now. You seem to be handling this fairly well. I take it my son talked to you about our kind?"

Blaine laughed hollowly as he switched out the blood bag again. "No, sir. I figured it out on my own after reading Luc Amerault's books. I kind of put the pieces together while reading The Gift. Teddy really got mauled by a bear?"

"I did." The voice came from behind him as the immortal in question came through the door. "Is that Burt on the phone still? Good, let me talk to him."

Blaine handed over Kurt's phone and sat down in the desk chair, watching the older man as he checked on Kurt's wounds. He wasn't really listening to the phone conversation. Exhaustion crept over him, and he found it hard to keep his eyes open.

He woke with a start when he felt hands on his shoulders.

"Easy there, son," Teddy said soothingly. "You've got a fairly good sized goose egg on your head. I just want to check you for a concussion."

Blaine blinked up at the older man as the immortal peered into his eyes, checked his pulse, and examined him for any other injuries. Once satisfied that the boy wasn't too seriously injured, the grey eyed sheriff handed Blaine a thermos.

"Drink some of this. Don't worry, it's just hot chocolate," he assured. "It will help with the jitteriness from shock. Give me your key and I'll get you some of your clothes to change into, and then you can lay down on the bed here and rest. I'll take care of Kurt."

Blaine nodded in thanks, trying to open the thermos, but he realized his hands were shaking so bad he couldn't get a grip. Teddy helped him open it and poured a little into the cup. Blaine drank as the other man took his keys and went down the hall.

Twenty minutes later Blaine came out of the bathroom, showered and dressed in pajamas. He noticed that the older immortal had cleaned Kurt up and changed him into pajamas as well. He crawled into bed beside Kurt. He was too tired to think about anything at the moment. Before sleep claimed him, he reached out and intertwined his fingers with the pale boy beside him.

…

The second time Kurt woke up, he felt much better, if somewhat stiff and sore. He knew he'd been injured, but he couldn't remember the details right away. He lay there with his eyes closed, trying to piece together the details.

He remembered leaving Wes' party with Blaine around midnight. It had been snowing. He'd been driving cautiously. He'd turned off the freeway at their exit, and then...

"Blaine!" He called out as he sat up.

"Shh! You'll wake him up!" Teddy's voice came from the couch. Kurt looked at the older man in confusion, and then noticed the hand interlaced with his. He looked down at Blaine, sound asleep, face and arms scratched. "He's fine. He's got a bump on his head but no concussion."

Kurt relaxed a little when he heard that, resting back against the headboard. Teddy smiled at him. "Tricia is taking care of your car. The police found it not long after the accident. She's taken care of the officers involved and the paperwork. Your dad had the car towed to his garage."

Kurt nodded, knowing there was some detail he was missing. "Did they take us to the ER? Is that how you found us?"

Teddy shook his head no. "Blaine pulled you out of the wreckage and carried you here."

That didn't make sense. Why hadn't Blaine called the paramedics? That would have been the first thought in any mortal's mind. Why had he carried Kurt that far? Kurt looked down at the sleeping boy again, reaching out to brush a lock of hair off his forehead.

"To answer the question you're thinking," the older immortal said with a grin on his face, "Your boy there is pretty smart. He knew you wouldn't want to end up in the hospital. He brought you here, and fed you six bags of blood while he called your dad, who sent me up here to check on both of you."

Kurt frowned. Blaine had fed him blood? How did he even know about the blood, let alone how to feed it to him?

Teddy spoke two words that explained everything. "Luc Amerault."

The books. How long had it taken him to figure it out? How long had he known? He tried to stifle a yawn, but it escaped. He also became more aware of just how sore he was. The grey eyed man noticed.

"You should probably have a couple more bags of blood and try to get a little more sleep. Tricia will be here this afternoon to talk to you." He reached into a large cooler beside the couch and grabbed out two more bags of blood and carried them over to the teenager.

Kurt frowned again as he sank back down on the bed. He took the bags, but didn't do anything with them right away. "She wants to talk to me about the accident?"

The man shook his head. "She's got some news about the missing boys. And she wanted to warn you."

"Warn me about what?"

"Lucian is coming."

Kurt's multifaceted blue-green-grey eyes went wide. "Oh. My. Gaga."

…

It was lunch time before Blaine woke up. He sat up slowly, his aches and pains making themselves known. He frowned when he realized he was alone in Kurt's bed, until he noticed the note on the bedside table next to a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin. He smiled when he recognized Kurt's hand writing.

Teddy had to go out for a while. I went downstairs to get us lunch. Be back shortly-Kurt

Rereading the note, the curly haired boy felt warmth filling him. He took the aspirin, and then went into the bathroom to relieve himself and freshen up. As he looked into his own hazel eyes, he thought about the situation he was in. Ever since he figured out Kurt's secret, and what that implied, he'd felt so confused. He'd had a hard time dealing with his emotions ever since Oliver betrayed him and Trace. He'd tried to keep things between Kurt and himself on friendly terms, refused to think it could be anything more, no matter how much his friends had urged him to open himself up.

Once he realized what could be between him and the pale boy, he'd forced the thoughts out of his mind. Refused to believe it was even possible. But last night proved impossible to ignore. Could he accept what fate had placed in his lap? Was he ready for this?

He heard the outer door open, and Kurt called out for him. Taking a deep breath, he smiled and stepped out into the main room.

…

Kurt smiled nervously as the curly haired boy came out of the bathroom. He noted all the scratches, the bruises, the lump on the right side of his temple. "How do you feel?"

The other boy smiled just as nervously, Kurt thought. "A little stiff, and the scratches sting, but the aspirin is working. I'd ask how you were feeling, but you look much better than you did when I pulled you out of the wreckage. I can barely see the cut on your cheek."

Kurt shrugged, and offered the other boy a plate with a turkey club sandwich, extra bacon, a side of fries with ranch dressing, and extra pickles. "Hungry?"

The shorter boy took the plate, smiling again. "Starving."

Kurt laughed, taking his own grilled chicken sandwich with tomato, avocado, light mayo, and sprouts on multi grain bread, cottage cheese, and fruit salad. They sat on the couch, eating in silence for a few minutes.

After they finished, Kurt turned a little on the couch, resting against the arm as he studied the other boy. His curls were wild and untamed, and Kurt had to fight the urge to reach out and grab a fist full. "How long have you known?"

The darker boy turned to face him, getting more comfortable himself. "I figured it out over Christmas break. I'd just finished Teddy and Tricia's book, and all the little pieces just clicked. But what really made it real was the dreams. I realized that when ever you weren't near me, you weren't there in my dreams. But when we were close, here at Dalton or at Jeff's cabin, you were there."

He absently played with one of the throw pillows. "There were other things too. I'd dream about you singing a song, and later on, you'd sing it, or I'd tell you something in a dream, and you'd bring it up in a conversation later. And then there's your eyes. At first I convinced my self you were wearing colored contacts to make you look like the characters in your cousin's books, but I saw your eyes at night, and saw how they reflected light like a cat's."

Kurt nodded. He supposed he hadn't really been all that subtle. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

Blaine shrugged. "Honestly? I was scared. Not of you, exactly, but of what it meant." He sighed, and looked up at Kurt. "Oliver said he loved me. He was sweet and caring, and seemed too good to be true. When we broke up, I never expected him to be so cruel. After the attack, I refused to feel anything but rage for the longest time. After I came to Dalton, and joined the Warblers, they helped me to start feeling again. But I was still so scared to love anyone again. I still am."

Kurt felt like his heart had stopped beating. He tried to think of something to say, but Blaine continued. "I've read all of the books. I know what having a lifemate means to you, to your kind. I just... I just needed time to think things through. I want to be what you need, I'm just not sure if I'm ready yet."

Kurt took a deep breath. Blaine wasn't rejecting him. He smiled. "You know just because we're lifemates doesn't mean we have to jump into anything just yet. We have years to work things out. I won't rush you into anything you aren't ready for. We can go as fast or slow as you want."

Blaine smiled at him. "I do care about you, Kurt. I might even love you."

"I care about you too, Blaine." They looked at each other for a few moments. "Can I kiss you?"

In response, Blaine leaned towards him. Kurt moved closer. They hesitated when their lips were almost touching, and then Kurt moved that fraction of an inch closer. Both boys gasped as they made contact, and a feeling like being zapped by electricity raced through them. It was impossible to tell who moved first as they pressed closer, deepening the kiss. Blaine moaned as the lifemate's shared pleasure echoed back not only his own pleasure, but Kurt's as well. Things quickly progressed, until Blaine was laying full out on top of Kurt, their tongues dueling. Kurt gave in and grabbed fistfuls of Blaine's hair as he shifted so that the smaller boy fit more comfortably between his legs, and their groins aligned. Both boys cried out at the contact.

Kurt pulled back with a little whimper. "We need to stop or this is going to turn into something more than just kissing."

Blaine groaned as he held his body as still as he could. "Would you think I was a hypocrite if I said I'm not sure I want to stop?"

Kurt laughed, kissing him again, but forcing himself to keep this kiss more chaste. They broke apart at a knock on the door.

"Kurt?" His Aunt Katricia called out. "I hope you boys are decent, cause I need to talk to you."

Kurt rolled his eyes, but sat up as Blaine moved off of him. "Come in."

…

Kurt was shocked by what he was seeing. "I thought there were only six missing boys?" He looked down at the twenty some odd files laid out on his bed.

"Six from Westerville, three from Lima, five from Kenton, five from Columbus, and six from Canton." Tricia listed. "Twenty five in all over the last year, starting with the first one, Micheal Digmon from Kenton, who disappeared on February first of last year. The last one, James Harris, of Columbus, went missing last week. All between the ages 16 and 22. The police had only just connected the disappearances. But they haven't connected the deaths yet."

She indicated another file that listed several homeless people who had been found deceased from unusual causes. Kurt spotted the vital information almost immediately. "They all died of blood loss, but there was no blood on or around the body. The police assume they were killed somewhere else and the bodies moved, despite most of them being found near their usual campsites."

Blaine frowned at this information. "They are investigating the killings as a separate crime from the missing boys, because there is nothing to connect the two, at least from their view point. You suspect a rogue?"

Tricia smiled at the young mortal. He was very intelligent, and having read all those books about the immortals, he'd caught on fairly quickly. "Yes. I've called Lucian, and he's coming down to investigate personally."

Both boys looked a little afraid at this news. Kurt looked at the other boy. Blaine had read the books, so he knew how intimidating the ancient immortal could be, but for Kurt, it was even scarier. Lucian was the eldest immortal in his family line. He'd heard all the stories of the iced eye blonde warrior. Lucian wasn't the oldest immortal alive, Julius Notte's parents and a couple others held that honor, but Lucien was definitely the most feared.

Tricia could easily read both boys, and had to laugh. "Relax boys, he's definitely chilled out since meeting Leigh. Actually, I'm surprised he is coming himself, since she is pregnant and so close to giving birth."

"Which means," Kurt said, melodramatically, "that he'll be even worse than usual. He'll disembowel me for taking his focus away from her. Great, I'm dead. I'm sorry, Blaine. It was nice while it lasted."

"Yes, well, I probably would have, if Leigh hadn't in fact already had the twins." The voice was deep, oddly accented, and so cold, Kurt could feel his blood freezing in his veins. He turned to look at the tall ice blonde man with the pale blue eyes standing in the doorway. He swallowed thickly.

"Hello, Uncle Lucian. It's nice to finally meet you?" He finished on a weak little squeak.


	15. Taken

Lucien studied the files Tricia had acquired. Something about the information disturbed him, but he hid it well. "I want to bring in Greg. He can do a psychological profile, see if we can figure out who we are dealing with here."

Tricia nodded and pulled out her cell phone to make the call. While she was on the phone, the ancient Atlantian studied the two boys. He had only met Kurt once before, when the boy had only been a few days old. He had been at his mother's funeral, but he didn't think the boy had been aware of his presence, he'd been so grief stricken. Even then, Lucien had admired the boy's gentle soul and strength of will.

He studied the curly haired boy that was his grand nephew's lifemate. The boy radiated kindness, but also a deeply embedded pain. He saw the need to help people, and a fierceness that matched the pale boy beside him. He approved. He would have spoken, but heard foot steps approaching.

Moving with preternatural speed, he scooped up the police files, stashing then under the mattress, moved the cooler of blood, which was nearly empty now, into the closet, closing it just before a knock sounded on the door from the hallway. He indicated for Kurt to open the door.

…

Kurt had heard the footsteps approaching as well, and understood when his uncle had begun tidying up the evidence. Tricia stepped into the bathroom to finish her phone call in private. Blaine just looked at the three of them in confusion, until Kurt moved towards the door seconds before the knock sounded.

Kurt smiled at Wes and David as he opened the door to them. They stepped inside, grinning when they saw Blaine sitting on Kurt's bed, in his pajamas still. "Hey, guys, what's up?"

Wes started to answer, then did a double take when he noticed the scratches all over Blaine's face and arms, and the large bruise were the lump had been earlier. "Blaine? What the hell happened to you?"

Kurt could have kicked himself, he'd completely forgotten about the scratches and bruises, but Blaine had an answer ready. "I slipped on a patch of ice when we got back this morning and ended up falling into the bushes."

"Damn, looks like you wrestled a mountain lion," David exclaimed. "And that's a pretty nasty bruise, too."

They hadn't noticed Lucien's presence, so was startled when he spoke up. "Yes, it looks worse than it is, however."

Both Wes and David shrank back when they saw the intimidating figure standing next to the closet. Kurt smiled at them. "Guys, this is my Uncle Lucien Argeneau. He was in the area on business and stopped by for a visit. Lucien, this is Wes and David. They are members of the Warblers."

"Ah yes, your show choir." Kurt was surprised the much older immortal knew about them.

He gave himself a mental shake, and turned back to the boys. "Was there something you guys needed?"

Wes blinked, turning his gaze away from the imposing figure and back to the pale boy. "Oh, yes. Well, first we just stopped to see if Blaine was feeling alright, since he left the party early last night. And second, we wanted to let you know we've rescheduled this afternoon's rehearsal for tomorrow, because Thad twisted his ankle this morning on the ice. The doctor said it isn't sprained, but to stay off it for a day."

Blaine laughed. "See, ice is dangerous. I'm fine, by the way. Kurt's been taking really good care of me."

The two older Warblers, looked at each other, trying to hide their grins, but Kurt could easily read their thoughts. He knew that by curfew that night if not sooner, every Warbler would know that something was going on between Kurt and the smaller boy.

"Okay, we'll see you guys at rehearsal tomorrow then," David said. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Argeneau." He gave a little wave in the older man's direction, still a little leery of the iced eye male. They left, and as soon as the door closed behind them, Tricia came out of the bathroom.

"Greg and Lissi can be here by tomorrow evening. They are going to drop Lucianna off with Marguerite, and then Bastien wanted them to stop off in New York for something on the way down here."

Lucien merely nodded. "Fine. I have to get back to the hotel. Leigh is there alone with the twins, and I don't want her to get too exhausted."

He left without saying goodbye.

…

Blaine went back to his own room before dinner to clean up and change his clothes before meeting Kurt downstairs. As he predicted, all the Warblers looked up at the pair with silly grins on their faces. Blaine blushed a little, but he saw Kurt rolling his eyes as he led them over to the serving line to get their food.

As they sat down with their friends, the teasing began. Kurt just looked at him. He knew the pale boy was leaving it up to him whether to acknowledge their relationship or not. He reached out and took the other boy's hand and smiled at him, bringing the countertenor's knuckles to his lips in a chaste kiss. Kurt couldn't suppress the smile that spread across his face.

A collective 'Aww' went up from the table. Now Kurt was the one blushing. Conversation around the table eventually turned to other topics. Blaine noticed Jordan sitting at the end of the table, looking morose. The older boy had lost weight in the weeks since Kris had disappeared. He didn't know what to say to the other boy. He couldn't very well tell him that in all likelihood his boyfriend had been taken by a rogue vampire. He wished he could comfort the other boy somehow.

Kurt seemed to sense his thoughts. He leaned closer, whispering softly so no one else could hear him. "I can mask his memories so he doesn't feel as guilty about what happened, and lesson his depression."

Blaine considered it for a moment, then nodded imperceptibly. He saw the pale boy concentrate on the other Warbler briefly, saw Jordan straighten his shoulders a little, and begin eating the food he'd hardly touched. The boy was still quieter than his usual jovial self, but he looked a little less like the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

…

Over the next two weeks things seemed to settle down around Dalton. Kurt was happy to be able to spend time with his lifemate, though they tried to keep to just holding hands. The few times they kissed in private, the lifemate tension between them was so great, they barely managed to pull back before things went further than either of them were ready to go.

Kurt grew happier by the day as Valentine's Day approached. It would be his first with an actual boyfriend to celebrate it with. He was making plans for something really special that day. The Saturday before the big day, Kurt and Blaine had gone to the mall to do a little shopping. They ran into Stephanie and Artie in the food court when they stopped for lunch.

The four teens were laughing together, happily knowing that none of them had to pretend around any of the others, and they could all just relax and enjoy themselves.

Kurt didn't know how it happened, and for several minutes didn't even notice that something was wrong. Confusion tickled the back of his mind, and he looked across at Stephanie to see if she felt it too. She was frowning. She looked from Kurt to Artie, and back again. Kurt suddenly couldn't breathe as the realization hit him.

"Blaine is gone!" He choked out.

The other two looked at him, and then the empty seat beside him. Horror crossed Stephanie's face. "I never even sensed them! How could this happen?"

Artie seemed even more confused. "But he was just sitting there! I saw him just two seconds ago. Where could he have gone?"

Kurt yanked his phone out of his pocket, intending to call Lucien, but paused when he noted the time. That couldn't be right. More than an hour had passed. They had lost an hour of time. He glanced at the girl across from him again, and she nodded, clearly reading his thought as he called the ancient immortal.

Kurt watched the girl as she began scanning the minds of the people around them as they waited for the phone call to be connected. "Uncle Lucien? Blaine is missing!"

He described how they seemed to be missing an hour of memories each. Stephanie cleared her throat. "Everyone has a memory of the four of us laughing, and then Blaine just gets up and walks away, while the three of us continue to sit here. For a while, we keep laughing, but then we go silent, just sitting here. They thought we were getting bored waiting for Blaine to return. No one saw anything suspicious."

Lucien swore under his breathe. "The three of you are to return to the Hummel home now." He hung up without another word.

Kurt was moving on autopilot as they drove back to his home. All he could feel was numbness. It was a wonder he didn't wreck a second vehicle. They made it safely, though Kurt didn't recall a single second of the drive.

When he entered the living room with the other two on his heels, they found Lucien, Leigh, Greg, Lissianna, Burt, Carole, Teddy and Tricia all pacing. The three week old twins, Luka and Gemma, were asleep in a portable crib in the corner.

Burt and Carole rushed forward and hugged Kurt. He just stood there in shock. Lucien moved forward and examined each of the three teens. The pale boy could feel the older immortal sifting through his memories, but didn't really care, he was to far gone to care about anything.

Lucien let out a rare sigh of defeat. "You were correct, Gregory. The rogue is an ancient. He didn't just alter their memories, he removed them completely. That narrows the list down to about thirty or so possible suspects."

Greg nodded, making a note on the pad he was carrying. "If we can find a common factor among the missing, we can possibly narrow it down even more. I've been going over the files on all the boys, and so far the only commonalities I've found is that they are all male, and close in age. We may have to interview the families to find out more information."

Kurt swallowed at the word families. Blaine's mother didn't know her son was missing yet. He felt his knees go weak. Someone called his name, but his world faded to black.

…

"You okay there, kiddo?" Burt asked for the fifth time since Kurt recovered from his faint. For the fifth time, he gave the same answer in a wooden, emotionless voice.

"I'm fine, Dad." Carole set a cup of tea I front of him, squeezing his shoulder.

"Well find him, Kurt. Lucien is calling in more hunters."

"That's right," Burt added. "Decker and Dani are coming. So are Eshe and Armond and Nicholas and Jo, and Bricker."

Kurt didn't reply, just mechanically drank the tea his stepmother had made for him. In the living room, Stephanie and Artie were speaking to Greg and Lissianna about what had happened, while Teddy and Tricia made phone calls. Kurt could hear the murmur of their voices, but he wasn't really paying attention.

Suddenly Lucien was standing in front of him. "Kurt, Blaine is still alive. You need to snap out of this mood you are in. We need your help to find him."

Kurt blinked and looked up at the ancient one. Ice blue eyes locked with glasz and held. A single tear slide down his face, and as if that was the signal to the others, a damn broke and Kurt was sobbing in the Atlantian's arms. If any of the others found it strange that it was the most feared immortal alive who had managed to break through to the boy, they were wise enough not to mention it.

After a while, the tears subsided, and Kurt felt more clear headed. He blew his nose on the tissue Carole handed him, then took a few calming breaths. He could do this. He would find Blaine.

…

Shortly after nine that night, a dozen more rogue hunters showed up, including the Notte twins and their cousin, Marcus. Stephanie had an emotional reunion with her sister, telling her all about finding Artie. They all gathered in the Hummel living room while Lucien gave them a rundown of what had been happening.

Greg explained to them the kind of information to look for, and handed each of them a stack of folders. Even though it was late at night already, they would visit as many of the families as they could that night.

As the others dispersed, Burt urged an exhausted Kurt to get some sleep. He tried, but in the end, Lucien had to will him to sleep, promising the boy that he would wake him up when there was anything new to report.

…

It was dawn when Kurt woke. He felt more alert than he had the afternoon before. He got cleaned up and dressed, and went downstairs. At first he thought he was alone, that everyone else was asleep, but as he entered the kitchen, he found Lucern attempting to figure out how to use the coffee maker.

He took over for the ancient immortal, silently pulling items out of the fridge for breakfast. He knew not to bother asking Lucien if there was any news. The stoic male would tell him if there was anything to tell.

"How many am I cooking for?" Was his only question.

Lucien shrugged his shoulders. "Make enough for an army. Bricker and the Nottes will eat most of it."

Kurt nodded and began pulling more items out of the refrigerator, as his uncle disappeared into the garage for a moment, returning with four bags of blood. He handed two of them to the young man. The pale boy accepted them and slapped the first one to his teeth as he began cracking eggs into a bowl with the other hand. Lucien watched him in silence for a while.

"You and I have much in common, did you know that?" The older immortal asked when they had both finished their blood. Kurt paused in his preparations to look at the other male. Lucien continued. "We've both suffered the loss of people we love dearly, but more than that. People have preconceived notions about both of us. People think that I am some scary boogeyman because I did what I had to to protect my family, and myself."

Kurt snorted a bit at that. "There is also the whole intimidating glare and the fact that you look like you'd rip the heart out of anyone who looked at you weird."

Kurt thought he saw a hint of a smile on the larger male's face. "Yes, well. As I was saying. You are a lot like me. People look at you and only see your sexuality, and think it means you are weak. The truth is you are stronger than most immortals I know. Yes, you have moments of weakness. We all do. But you never allow them to keep you down for long. That takes so much strength. Which is why I know you will be the key to finding your Blaine and the other boys."

Kurt felt a sense of pride fill him, and smiled as he continued to prepare breakfast. As the coffee finished brewing, Lucien poured cups for the both of them, then got two more cups as he heard Carole and Leigh making their way downstairs. The two woman joined Kurt in preparing breakfast.

Carole had gotten a large, portable carafe with a lid out of the garage when she went to retrieve blood for herself and Lucien's lifemate, and had poured the remains of the first pot of coffee into it. By the time the third pot had finished brewing and been poured into the carafe to keep it warm, Tricia, Teddy, Decker, Dani, Nicholas and Jo had returned, and Bricker was pulling into the driveway with Marcus Notte. The remaining teams of two returned not long after. Breakfast was served buffet style, and they took their plates and drinks into the living room. Once they had all eaten, Lucien directed the hunters to start giving their reports.

"Start with the first boy to disappear, and go chronologically," Greg suggested, pulling out his note pad. "Who investigated Micheal Digmon from Kenton?"

A dark skinned woman with hair dyed red and blonde on the ends to look like flames stood up. Eshe d'Aureus was his Uncle Armond's new lifemate. "Micheal Francis Digmon, age 17 when he went missing, attended Kenton High school. Was on the tennis team, and member of three clubs, the foreign language club, the debate team, and something called the Upscallers. No known girlfriend or boyfriend. Family is middle class, father works as a bank teller, mother runs a small bakery. Went missing on February 1st, 2010, while walking home from the debate practice."

Kurt tried to pay attention as the reports on the next few boys were given, but really only managed to pick up a few bits; Jason Atherson of Columbus, 19, disappeared February 15th, 2010, high school graduate, former member of the FFA and the marching band.

Harrison Bradford of Canton, 16, disappeared March 3rd, 2010 from South Canton High school, where he was a member of the science club, the future astronauts club, and the jazz band.

William Gerard, 18, disappeared March 25th, 2010, From Westerville Union high school, Baseball player and a member of the Cliff Notes.

Daniel Christianson, 21, attended the Junior college in Columbus. Music major.

By this point something started nagging at the back of Kurt's mind, but he couldn't pinpoint it. The list went on for a few more minutes, and then Justin Bricker began reading his first report.

"Matt Rutherford, age 17, Lima, attended McKinley high school..."

"Wait! Matt Rutherford?" Kurt sat up straighter. "I know him! We were told he transferred when his dad got a promotion and they moved to Indiana!"

Bricker looked back down at his notes. "Apparently he came back during the summer to visit his grandmother when she became ill. He disappeared when he went to do her grocery shopping for her."

Kurt stood up, pacing, that niggle at the back of his mind trying to work itself out. "I need to think, I need to think. Think."

He paced for a moment, and then looked back at Greg. "William Gerard. Are we certain the name of the club he was in was called the Cliff Notes? Could it have been Clef Notes?"

Jo looked down at her notepad. "It might be. Why?"

Kurt looked at Lucien. "Don't you see it?"

They all looked at their notes again. It was Lissianna who spotted it. "Music. They all are either musicians or singers."

There was a moment of silence, and then Lucien spat a single word that had Burt Hummel shaking with rage.

"Jeremiah."


	16. Pied Piper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who is Jeremiah, and why did the mere mention of his name send Burt into a rage? Read on to find out more!

Blaine didn't know where he was or how he had gotten there. One minute he'd been having fun with Kurt and his friends, and then the next thing he remembered was waking up on this cot in what he thought was an old jail cell. He sat up, looking around. How the hell had he gotten here? He stood and walked to the barred door. It was locked. He looked at the cell across the way. The light was dim, and he could barely make out two forms in the other cell.

"Hey, what's going on here?" He called out.

"Blaine?" The voice was familiar. One of the forms from across the hall moved forward into what little light there was.

"Kris? Is that you?" Blaine was shocked to see the other boy. Kris had by no means ever been over weight, but he had still had those little pockets of baby fat here and there. Now he was shockingly lean. He was also very dirty. He appeared to still be wearing the clothes he had gone missing in.

"Oh god, Blaine, not you too!"

"What's going on, Kris?"

The other boy whimpered. "Listen to me, Blaine, no matter what, just sing! It will be so much easier for you if you sing."

"What do you mean? Where are we?"

Another familiar voice answered, though Blaine couldn't see the boy who spoke. "Hell. We're in Hell."

"George?" Blaine tried to see down the hallway to where the voice came from, but it was too dark. Before he could ask anything else, they heard a door open at the end of the hallway, and someone entered, whistling. Blaine saw Kris shrink back into his cell as the whistling slowly moved closer. Suddenly afraid, Blaine stepped back from the door.

A moment later, a silhouette blocked the small amount of light visible through the bars. The whistling stopped, and a voice spoke. "Time for your audition, Warbler."

…

Kurt swept up the last of the broken glass from the floor in the kitchen, mentally making a note that they would have to purchase new dishware soon, but for now they could make due with paper plates and plastic cups. He had never seen his dad so enraged. At the mere mention of the rogue's name, Burt Hummel had stormed into the kitchen and proceeded to destroy everything he could reach.

Not that Kurt could blame him. He'd felt like smashing something himself. After all, it wasn't every day you discover that your Mother's murderer had returned to wreck more havoc on your life.

The only thing that had kept him from joining his father in wanton destruction was the knowledge that it wouldn't bring them any closer to finding Blaine.

Carole had finally managed to calm the elder Hummel, and Dani had administered a smaller dosage of the drug they used to ease mortals through the turning. Burt was now sleeping peacefully upstairs in his room.

Kurt was aware of Lucian watching him closely as he finished cleaning the mess. He didn't bother to look at the ancient one. He didn't need to speak for the older immortal to know what was going through his mind; fear for his lifemate, anger that the rogue threatened yet another person he loved, determination to find Blaine and bring him home.

The pale blue eyed immortal nodded at the teenager. "You are correct, you don't need to speak your thoughts. I know you want to be there when we take down the rogue. I would refuse outright based on your age alone, but I know that you would just ignore my wishes unless I have you sedated as well. So instead of ordering you to stay behind or resorting to drastic measures, I will simply appeal to your common sense, assuming teenagers these days have any."

Kurt looked at him. "I'm listening. I won't make any promises, but I am listening."

Lucian nodded. "I will not stop you from assisting in finding the location of the rogue's lair, nor will I forbid you from coming with us when we find it. I only ask that you remain out of harms way until we have the location secure."

Kurt considered the offer. "I will try to stay out of harms way. That is the closest to a promise I can make. But if Blaine needs me..."

Lucian acknowledged, knowing that any lifemate would feel the same way.

…

Blaine prepared himself to attack the moment the door was open. He knew how to defend himself. Between the boxing and Teddy's self defense classes, plus what he'd taught himself from watching demonstrations on line, he felt confident that he could free himself.

What he wasn't prepared for was the fuzzy feeling that infiltrated his mind the second the door opened. His body relaxed and straightened up against his will. He found himself walking calmly in front of the male who had opened his cell door.

There's no reason to fight. It's just an audition. Why was he thinking of fighting? He needed to be ready to perform. What song should he sing?

He noticed he had stopped walking and was standing in a large room that appeared to once have been the prison's entertainment room, but why was there a huge bed on one side? Why was he auditioning in someone's bedroom?

Relax, it's just an audition. And if you're good, maybe there will be something more in it for you.

Something more? His brows furrowed. He noticed movement to his side, saw a figure move past him towards the bed. The person appeared to be in his early twenties, tall, with long dark blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. He sat back on the bed, and looked up at Blaine with a smile. He was handsome, in a I-could-be-a-model-for-the-GAP type of way. He looked Blaine over suggestively.

The shorter boy felt uncomfortable by the look, but he didn't understand why. The older boy was quite attractive, actually. Blaine should be flattered by the attention, shouldn't he?

"Now Blaine," the voice was soft, seductive. "My name is Jeremiah, and I want you to sing for me. Can you do that?"

Blaine nodded, still feeling kind of numb. "What do you want me to sing?"

Jeremiah's smile grew wider. "Sing something to tell me how much you love me."

Blaine frowned. He didn't love Jeremiah. He didn't love anyone. No, that wasn't true. He loved someone. What was his name? Why couldn't he remember? His head began to ache.

Look at him. He's so handsome. You know you're attracted to him. You want to make him happy. Sing for him, tell him how much you love him

Blaine blinked, as his head began to pound.

Sing and the pain will go away

He couldn't sing a love song to someone he didn't know. He wanted to sing for the one he loved. What was his name? He should be able to remember!

Sing!

Blaine cried out as the pain in his head turned to agony. And then he remembered a flash of stormy sea eyes. Gasping, he held on to the memory.

"Kurt!" Blaine shouted, panting for air as the pain grew even worse.

Jeremiah frowned, rising from the bed and moving closer to the boy. "Very well, if you refuse to sing, then you can provide another service."

The immortal grabbed Blaine by the front of his shirt and pulled him in closer. Blaine was only mildly surprised by the fangs sprouting from the taller male's mouth. As the haze had faded from his thoughts, he'd realized that the man in front of him was most likely an immortal.

Unfortunately that was his last thought before those fangs bit deep into his throat. He screamed in pain again.

…

Kurt was actually growling in frustration. It had been four days! Four days since Blaine had disappeared, and they were still no closer to finding him. Teams had been set up to check out possible locations, but so far nothing.

Now they were all sitting in his living room again, talking and pouring over maps. "The boys were all taken from towns along this route here," Greg said, indicating the towns along the map. "The deceased were all found in this general area." He indicated a location east of Columbus.

Lucian studied the areas indicated. "The last time he set up shop in Ohio, his lair was here, just south of Akron. He was holed up in an abandoned factory."

"We checked out that area," Bricker offered. The usually cocky immortal had been more subdued ever since the incident that had caused Jeanne Louise to use her only turn to save young Livy's life. "We went through every abandoned factory, farm, and school we could find. No sign of rogue activity."

As they continued to list places they'd already searched, and try to come up with more possible locations to try, Kurt's irritation grew. He was about to shout at them that sitting there talking was getting them no where, when Burt cleared his throat.

His dad had calmed down since his initial rage, but still had bouts of temper. They had all learned to tread carefully around him. They all stopped talking and looked at him now.

"Have you searched that old prison in Mansfield? People seem to think it's haunted. Sounds like a perfect hide out."

They exchanged looks. Greg brought up the information on his laptop. Lucian read it over, and nodded. "Let's go."

…

Blaine felt weak. In the four days he had been here, Jeremiah had fed from him so many times he lost count. He hadn't had any food in the last forty eight hours, either.

When the cell door opened, he was too weak to even care what happened to him. He didn't bother opening his eyes. He expected Jeremiah would finish him off. He only hoped that Kurt would one day find another lifemate that would ease his pain at Blaine's loss.

He was taken by surprise when a soft voice spoke to him. "Oh, Blaine, Blaine, Blaine, what are we going to do with you?"

He opened his eyes, shocked to hear that oh so familiar voice. "Trace?"

The other boy smiled at him. "It's good to see you, old friend. It's been so long."

Blaine couldn't believe what he was seeing. "How...but...I thought you didn't remember me. They said you had permanent brain damage and memory loss."

The thin boy with the laughing grey green eyes and blonde hair smiled at him. "I did. But I'm much better now."

Blaine was so confused, but then looked more closely at his old friend. When the taller boy moved, his eyes reflected the small amount of light that came through the cell door. Reflected like a cat's, or an immortal's. Blaine sighed. "Nanos."

The other boy giggled. "Yes! They healed me, and now I'm stronger than I was before. No one can hurt me now. And you can be strong, too, Blaine. Jeremiah wants you. All you have to do is sing for him, and he'll make you strong, like us. You'll be able to have any boy you want, even the straight ones! You can make them do anything you want, and they'll never be able to beat you up again."

Blaine felt sick to his stomach. "But that's so wrong, Trace! I don't want someone who doesn't want me. I want Kurt. He loves me!"

"Like Oliver loved you? Come on, Blaine! You know love isn't real! Give Jeremiah what he wants, and he'll take care of you. Isn't that better than some silly notion like love?"

Blaine looked at his former friend, horrified. "What happened to you, Trace? You used to be in love with the idea of love. You used to talk about one day meeting a guy who would sweep you off your feet and place you on a pedestal and treat you like royalty! What happened to that romantic boy I used to know?"

The green eyed boy drew away in anger. "He died in that parking lot after a stupid dance! And if you want to survive, Blaine, I suggest you let those stupid notions die as well!"

Blaine watched the boy he once thought of as his best friend stalk towards the door, where he paused and picked something up from outside the cell. He turned and shoved a tray of food at Blaine before stomping out of the cell again, closing and locking the door behind him.

…

Kurt sat in one of the hunters' SUVs studying the castle like building in the distance. This used to be a prison? Beside the vehicle, Lucian studied the structure with heat vision goggles. Eshe and Armand had circled around to the back, taking another pair of the goggles with them. There was another pair sitting beside Kurt in the SUV.

He could hear Lucian speak into the mic on his walkie-talkie. "I count eleven stationary figures on this side of the building on the second floor."

A moment later he could hear Eshe's response. "I've got thirteen stationary and two roaming on this side, also on the second floor. Three of them are showing lowered temperatures. Could be injured or low on blood." Kurt felt dread filling him.

Marcus Notte and his twin cousins had slipped around the west side of the building, searching for a way to enter, while Jo and Nicholas did the same on the east. Jo's voice cut through the static after several minutes. "There's a service gate on this side, it looks like rains have washed away part of the road. We could go under it."

Lucian agreed, and the remaining hunters all stealthily made their way to that side of the building. Kurt stayed behind in the SUV, keeping track of the hunters' movement through the heat vision goggles and walkie-talkie Lucian had left in the vehicle for him. It seemed like hours, but Kurt knew it was only a matter of minutes before they all signaled that they were in place.

He couldn't tell who was who with the goggles on, and the walkie-talkie had gone silent as they spread out around the interior walls of the building, staying in teams of two. He saw a lone figure enter the building. He assumed this was Lucian. As the figure ascended what must be stairs, the other groups began to enter the structure as well.

The lone figure stealthily made his way along the second floor to were several heat signatures could be seen, they all appeared to be laying down, whether they were asleep or not, Kurt couldn't tell. Lucian's voice came over the walkie-talkie, so faint Kurt could barely hear him, even with preternatural hearing. "I've located some of the boys. They are locked inside the cells. I can't free them without alerting our presence."

Eshe's response was just as soft. "Same on this side. And one of the roamers is heading my way."

"Use caution, subdue them if you can do so without making too much noise."

"Got it."

Kurt couldn't stand not being able to see what was going on on the other side of the building. He wanted to be inside, rescuing Blaine. He slid out of the SUV, stretching his legs, but never looking away from the building. He was so focused on what was happening, he never noticed the form slipping up behind him.

"Well, well. Kurt Hummel. You look just like your mother. Well, what she looked like before I beheaded her."


	17. The Choices We Make

Lucian growled. "What do you mean he's not here?"

Eshe didn't even flinch. "Jeremiah wasn't inside. Neither was Blaine. All the other missing boys have been accounted for, plus two more that were never reported missing from Akron. Two of them, Trace Morgan and Micheal Digmon, were converted and fed from the deceased homeless. The other boys have been fed on, and three of them are pretty weak."

Lucian was infamous for never losing control of his temper, but at that very moment he was very close to his limits. "What about the converts, do either of them know where Jeremiah was going?"

"Digmon never really made it into the rogue's confidences. Morgan, on the other hand, quickly became a loyal confidant in the last few weeks. He refused to talk, but he's easily read. The only clue I got from his mind was something to do with a ferry."

Lucian thought it over for a moment. "Have someone bring Kurt in so I can..."

"He's gone!" The shout came heavily accented as one of the Italian twins ran up the corridor towards them.

Lucian frowned. "Who's gone?"

Tomasso Notte came to a halt in front of the ancient. "The Hummel boy. I went to get bottled water for the boys who were ill. I saw your SUV driving away. Kurt was at the wheel, and Jeremiah was with him."

…

Blaine felt sick to his stomach. Every movement made him feel more and more light headed. After Trace had left, Blaine had tried to eat the watery soup and bread with butter, but his hands had been shaking so bad he had ended up spilling most of the soup. He'd barely managed to finish eating the bread before his cell door was opened again. When he saw Jeremiah, he knew this was it. He was going to die tonight.

But the immortal hadn't killed him. Instead he was made to walk out of the building and across a field to another building, he thought it might be a barn from the smell of it. Once there, Jeremiah had fed on him, leaving him barely clinging to consciousness. When the rogue had finished feeding, he'd laughed and mockingly told Blaine to "wait here."

Blaine knew this would be his only chance to escape, and despite the weakness, he was determined to find someway out of this situation. Slowly, using an image of Kurt for motivation, he crawled towards the only light source he could see, a window halfway up the wall. It seemed to take him forever to reach the small patch of moonlight. He pulled himself up to a sitting position, back against the wall, trying to fight the dizziness overwhelming him. He let his head roll to one side, swallowing the bile that rose up at the movement. After another minute to catch his breath, He managed to turn around and pull himself up by the windowsill. His knees were so weak he almost collapsed again, but managed to brace himself with his elbows.

He tried to see out the filthy window, but the grime was too thick. He used a quick burst of energy to try and open the window. It opened a little less than halfway. The effort cost him, though. He began to tremble so bad, he lost his balance and fell back to the floor. Black spots gathered in his vision, and he began to lose hope that he'd recover enough for another attempt before his captor returned.

…

Despite everything, Kurt was calm as he was compelled by the much older immortal to get into the van and drive them away from the hunters. He didn't want to die, but knew he probably would, and he was okay with that, as long as Blaine lived.

"You know, I had a lifemate once," The long haired immortal said, studying Kurt's face. "Almost a thousand years ago. He had the most amazing singing voice. You sound a lot like him, actually. But he turned me down. Refused to accept the gift of immortality I offered him. He refused to accept the fact that he was attracted to men. Said it was a sin."

Kurt was silent, never looking away from the road as the other male compelled him to turn down a dirt road not far from the prison. He could just see an old barn in the distance. Jeremiah continued to talk.

"I had waited eight hundred years for a lifemate, and when I finally found him, he rejected me. Now look at you, sixteen years old, and your lifemate practically falls into your lap. How is that even fair?"

They stopped in front of the old barn, and Kurt felt his body moving to get out of the SUV and move to stand in front of the barn doors as his captor walked behind him. "Open the doors. I have a little present for you."

Kurt moved woodenly forward and opened the doors. It took a moment for his preternatural night vision to peer through the much darker interior. He cried out in shock when he spotted Blaine's still form laying on the ground under the window. He rushed forwards, suddenly free of the older male's compulsion.

"Blaine? Oh god, please!" He whispered, pleading to a god he didn't really believe in but at the moment hoped was real. "Please, please, let him be alive!"

He rolled the smaller boy over, and suddenly could hear the the heart beating sluggishly in the hazel eyed boy's chest. Tears streamed down his face as he hugged the other boy to him. He could feel Jeremiah watching them from the doorway.

"Touching. He's truly devoted to you, you know. He wouldn't sing for me, not even under compulsion." The older man took a step closer. "So what is it that makes you so special, huh? Why do you think fate saw fit to bring you your lifemate so early? And what makes him so devoted to you?"

Kurt didn't answer. He'd asked himself why he found Blaine so soon, but there was no answer to that. He looked down and saw that Blaine's eyes were open, though dull from blood loss. He smiled, he hoped reassuringly at the curly haired boy.

He never once looked away from the boy in his arms as he finally spoke. "You do know Lucian is already on his way here, don't you? The hunter's SUVs are all fitted out with trackers in case someone steals them."

Jeremiah laughed. "Of course I know that. Which is why we're leaving now. Pick the boy up. We'll be walking through the woods."

Once again Kurt felt himself being controlled as he lifted Blaine into his arms. He cursed his youth. If he had been much older, he'd at least have a chance to protect himself from the nearly two thousand year old immortal's influence. As they entered the woods, Kurt could only hope for a distraction that would allow them to escape.

…

Lucian had only known fear once in the modern era, when Leigh had been kidnapped a few weeks ago, while in labor with the twins. There had been complications with the delivery, and Lucian had feared he would lose all three of them. He thought he had reached his fear quota for the next few centuries.

That was until one enraged Burt Hummel nearly destroyed one of the other hunter SUVs with his bare hands after learning about his son's disappearance. Lucian feared the man would attack him or the other hunters. The man was just over a hundred years old, but his instincts to protect his child made him very dangerous.

"Are you ready to calm down yet?" Lucian asked when the other male paused to catch his breath. "Good. We tracked the SUV to a barn about two miles from here. There were signs that they traveled into the woods beyond the edge of the property. All of the hunters not dealing with the boys from the prison are out there searching for them. Kurt may be young, but he is also very intelligent. If anyone can survive this situation, it would be him."

Burt's shoulders slumped, and he sat down. "I can't lose my son."

Lucian placed his hand on the other man's shoulder. "You won't."

Static from Lucian's walkie-talkie broke the moment.

"I have a visual," Marcus Notte's voice said softly, barely audible. "They're too far away for the dart gun. Kurt is carrying the other boy, with Jeremiah a few paces behind. Looks like the rogue is compelling the kid, judging from the way he's moving."

Lucian considered the possibilities. "Can you provide a distraction that would give the boys a chance to break free and get to safety?"

It seemed to take a long time for the Italian to respond. "We're on it."

…

Kurt kept moving, trying to keep Blaine comfortable, increasingly worried about how cold the boy felt, and how blue his lips were becoming. The smaller male kept going in and out of consciousness as well.

They reached a stream, and began following it up river. He was beginning to panic the longer they walked. He knew Blaine couldn't last much longer without a transfusion, or at least IV fluids. He needed to get them out of there.

From somewhere to their left came the sound of something large crashing through the trees. Kurt felt Jeremiah's control slip as the immortal turned away, breaking the eye contact needed to maintain the compulsion. Kurt didn't hesitate, turning to the right and putting on a burst of preternatural speed, putting as many trees between him and the rogue as possible to keep the other from taking control again.

He could just make out the stars over head, and used them to navigate as he raced through the woods. Not long after he came out of the woods near the barn and the abandoned SUV. Breathing hard, he stopped and lay Blaine gently on the back seat. The smaller boy was bluer still, and so cold, Kurt feared it was too late.

"I'm sorry, Blaine, I know we promised to take this slow, but I can't live without you. Please forgive me, I should ask you first, but you're still unconscious and there is no time!" He sobbed desperately. Without another thought, the pale boy bit down into his own wrist, dragging his fangs across, ripping the flesh before pressing the gaping wound to the darker boy's lips, filling his mouth with crimson liquid.

"Please, Blaine, swallow! Oh god please!" He began stroking the other boy's throat, trying to trigger a response. After what seemed an eternity, Blaine swallowed. Once Kurt thought the curly haired boy had swallowed enough nano laden blood, He pulled back, and reached into the back end of the SUV where he knew the portable mini fridge was located and retrieved several bags of regular O negative, and then searched until he found the emergency IV equipment.

By the time Burt and Lucian reached the SUV and spotted the two boys, Kurt had inserted the IV and hung the first bag of blood. Kurt didn't even bother acknowledging their presence as the ancient immortal took in the situation and quickly retrieved the chains and a smaller ice chest from the back.

By the time they got Blaine strapped down, the turning had begun, the small teen thrashing wildly. Fortunately they had managed to secure the arm with the IV in it before the intense pain caused the boy to writhe and shriek. Lucian quickly filled a syringe with the drugs that would help ease the boy's turning and jabbed it into the IV line.

After a moment or two, the boy settled and they were able to finish securing him. As soon as the boy's fangs developed about forty minutes later, they began feeding him as much blood as they could, slapping the bags to his teeth.

Eventually Kurt fell into an exhausted sleep, despite not knowing if the others had captured Jeremiah or not.


	18. Life Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final Chapter for this story! Look for A Second Bite, part 2 of my Bite Trilogy!

Blaine woke up with a serious case of dry mouth. He groaned, not wanting to open his eyes, not caring to see the cell again. But wait, he wasn't in the cell anymore, was he? Jeremiah had taken him away from the cell and to a dirty old barn, where he fed from him again and left him barely alive.

So why did he feel a warm, soft blanket over him? And why did it feel like he was laying on the most comfortable bed in the world? And who was snuggled up against his back? He opened his eyes in surprise, looking around him at the familiar dorm room. He carefully turned to face the boy laying on the bed behind him.

"Kurt?" His voice came out as a croak, but the pale boy had heard him and slowly opened his eyes. Those glasz eyes sparkled as the taller boy smiled.

"You're awake. How do you feel?"

Blaine smiled weakly. "Thirsty, and confused. How did I get here? Last thing I remember was being in the barn and thinking I was dying, and hoping that you'd find another lifemate someday."

Kurt sat up, biting his bottom lip. "Jeremiah made me carry you into the woods, but the hunters tracked us and caused a distraction so we could escape. I carried you back to the SUV, but you were barely clinging to life. I...I couldn't lose you. I'm sorry."

Blaine wasn't sure why the other boy was apologizing. "I don't understand."

Tears gleamed in Kurt's eyes, and he couldn't hold them back. "I promised you we'd take things slow, that you would have as long as you needed to decide if you wanted me to turn you. But you were dying, and I couldn't..." He choked up and couldn't finish speaking.

Blaine sat up more, just sitting in silence as he considered Kurt's words. "You gave me your blood?"

The pale boy nodded. Blaine smiled and reached out to wipe the tears from the other boy's eyes. "Don't cry! I'm not mad at you. I'm happy you saved my life. And I'm really happy that I'll get to spend centuries with you! I love you, Kurt!"

Kurt laughed. "You're not just saying that because you have no choice now, are you?"

Blaine pulled the young immortal closer and kissed him softly on the lips, careful not to allow the lifemate lust to over take them just yet. "Banish that thought from your mind. I love you, Kurt. I've been falling in love with you since the first moment we met, I was just too scared to admit it to myself at the time."

He sighed and looked away from those faceted gem eyes. "When I was held captive, Trace came to see me. He'd been turned, and he wasn't at all like I remembered him. He tried to convince me there was no such thing as love. But all I could think about was you, and how much you care about everyone. You're so full of love, and I knew you loved me. I couldn't hide it from myself anymore. I love you so much, Kurt Elizabeth Argeneau Hummel!"

They hugged each other tightly. "I love you too, Blaine Anderson!"

They held each other until Blaine's stomach began to cramp with need. Kurt got up and went to the mini fridge hidden in his closet and retrieved several bags of blood. Blaine ran his tongue over his teeth, but didn't feel any fangs.

Having read the books, he knew new turns had to learn how to bring on their teeth. There were two ways to do it. Usually just the sight of blood combined with hunger would bring them on, but nothing happened when he saw the bags of blood. Guess he'd have to try the second method.

"Uh, Kurt? I need help getting my fangs to come out. Looking at the blood isn't working. I know there is another method new turns use to..." He trailed off, blushing.

Kurt understood right away, and smiled. He leaned into his boyfriend and kissed him. As expected, the kissing quickly turned heated, both boys forgetting about the blood for several moments until Blaine's fangs sprang out from the excitement. They weren't the only things that popped out. Ignoring the other portions of their anatomy, Kurt pulled back and slammed the bag of blood to Blaine's teeth. He then helped himself to a bag of blood.

Once the first bags were finished, the pale boy showed Blaine how to pop the bags to his own teeth. Kurt had a second bag of blood, while Blaine, who still hadn't completely finished the turn and still needed more blood for the nanos to complete their work, finished off four.

They were laying back on the bed, snuggling together, when Blaine's curiosity got the better of him. "You didn't tell me what happened with Jeremiah and the others."

Kurt sighed. "The hunters caught Jeremiah. Lucian, as head of the council, ordered the rogue to be staked and baked, and then beheaded."

Blaine understood that to mean that the rogue had been stripped practically naked, staked out in the sun all day, before being executed. "What about the others?"

Kurt knew he was asking about his friends. "All but two of the boys were rescued. Their memories were altered and they were reunited with their families, who now believe their sons were studying overseas for most of the last year, or in the case of the most recently taken, had been on an educational tour of the US."

The pale boy looked down at their joined hands. "The last two boys, Micheal Digmon and Trace Morgan, had been feeding on homeless people, draining them to the point of death. It's an automatic death sentence for our kind unless there are extenuating circumstances."

He squeezed Blaine's hand. "I'm sorry about your friend."

Blaine was silent for a long time. When he finally spoke, Kurt could hear the pain in his voice. "That boy wasn't Trace. The Trace I remember was kind and caring. He loved life, loved to laugh, and was a hopeless romantic. When Oliver betrayed us, that boy died in the parking lot of that school."

Kurt turned the boy's face to look at him and smiled. "I love you."

Blaine smiled. "Just remember I said it first."

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Here is the reading order for the Argeneau series;
> 
> A Quick Bite (Lissianna Argeneau and Greg Hewitt)
> 
> Love Bites (Etienne Argeneau and Rachel Garrett)
> 
> Single White Vampire (Lucern Argeneau and Kate Leever)
> 
> Tall Dark and Hungry (Bastien Argeneau and Terri Simpson)
> 
> A Bite to Remember (Vincent Argeneau and Jackie Morrisey)
> 
> Bite Me if You Can (Lucian Argeneau and Leigh Gerard)
> 
> The Accidental Vampire (Victor Argeneau and Elvi Black)
> 
> Vampires are Forever (Thomas Argeneau and Inez Urso)
> 
> Vampire, Interrupted (Marguerite Argeneau and Julius Notte)
> 
> The Rogue Hunter (Garrett Mortimer and Samantha Willan)
> 
> The Immortal Hunter (Decker Argeneau-Pimms and Dani McGill)
> 
> The Renegade Hunter (Nicolas Argeneau and Josephine Willan)
> 
> Vampire Valentine, Part of the Bitten by Cupid Anthology (Mirabeau La Roche and Tiny McGraw)
> 
> Born to Bite (Armand Argeneau and Eshe d'Aureus)
> 
> Hungry for You (Cale Argeneau and Alexandria Willan)
> 
> The Reluctant Vampire (Alexandrina Argenis and Harpernus Stoyen)
> 
> The Gift, Part of the Bite Before Christmas Anthology (Katricia Argeneau and Teddy Brunswick)
> 
> Under a Vampire Moon (Christian Notte and Carolyn Conner)
> 
> The Lady is a Vamp (Jeanne Louise Argeneau and Paul Jones)
> 
> Immortal Ever After (Anders and Valerie Moyer)
> 
> One Lucky Vampire (Stephano Jacob Colson Notte and Nicole Phillips)
> 
> Vampire Most Wanted (Basha Argeneau and Marcus Notte)
> 
> The Immortal Who Loved Me (Basileios Argeneau and Sherry Carne)
> 
> About a Vampire (Justin Bricker and Holly Bosley)
> 
> Runaway Vampire (Dante Notte and Mary Winslow)
> 
> Immortal Nights (Tomasso Notte and Abigail Forsythe)
> 
> Immortal Unchained (Domitian Argenis and Sarita Reyes)


End file.
